Skip to main content

Full text of "Sparks Journal Vol7No2 1984-12-28"

See other formats 


a ti i i mm ee i 


Digital Media © K2TQN 2012 


SPARKS JOURNAL 


*~** * 


SOCIETY OF WIRELESS PIONEERS. INC 


KK wk 


RECORDING THE EARLY HISTORY & DEVELOPMENT OF THE WIRELESS 


VOLUME 7, NO. 2 | DECEMBER 1984 | - QUARTERLY - 


“WIRELESS” - Brought he World A New Dimension in living 


IT’S “MAGIC” NEVER WANES IN PROVIDING 
INFINITE HELP, SERVICE, COMMUNICATIONS, ENTERTAINMENT,ET CETRA 


How Wireless Has Served the Sea 


Sixteen Years of Triumphant Achievements of an Unerring 
System and a Brave Devotion to Duty 


REMARKABLE rec- 

ord of achievement 
is presented by wireless tele- 
graphy since the service was 
first utilized in controlling 
the forces of nature for the 
benefit of mankind. It shows 
what the aerial message has 
done to safeguard lives on 
board vessels disabled by 
storm or mishap; that come 
into collision in the ocean 
fog; that are wrecked on 
rocks or swept ashore. It 
shows how fire in midocean has been 
robbed of much of its historic dread and 
how rescue is brought to the helpless 
victims of warfare on merchant ships. 

In no single instance on record has 
the Marconi system failed of its pur- 
pose, and even where sea or storm or 
fire or collision have temporarily dis- 
abled the apparatus, it has been quick- 
ly set aright and its intended work 
fulfilled. 

All through this serial story of the 
sea’s happenings runs the record of 
men living up to the traditions of the 
Marconi service. The list of such men 
who bravely gave up their lives to duty 
tells a story of courage amid difficulty 
and danger, of men who braved death 
to save the lives of others, men who 
were the last to leave the sinking ship. 

The first recorded use of the wire- 
less in rendering assistance to a ship 
endangered by collision, was on March 
3, 1899, when the steamship R. F. Mat- 
thews ran into the East Goodwin 
Lightship. This accident was report- 
ed by wircless telegraphy to the South 
Foreland Lighthouse, and lifeboats 
were promptly sent to the relief of the 
lightship. It was an incident of small 


importance in itself, yet a 
harbinger of great deeds to 
come. 

Years passed, and then 
suddenly occurred one of 
the greatest shipwrecks of 
modern times—one, indeed, 
in which the Marconi wire- 
less service first impressed 
its overwhelming importance 
upon the public mind, 
through being the means of 
saving nearly 1,500 lives. 
With thirty feet of her bow 
cut away, the Italian steamship Florida, 
of the Lioyd Italiano Line, came slow- 
ly into the port of New York on Janu- 
ary 25, 1909. Three days before, near 
Nantucket, she had run down and sunk 
the White Star liner Republic. The 
Baltic, also of the White Star Line, 
brought the survivors of both steam- 
ships into port. Thanks to the utility 
of the ether-waved call for aid, it was 
a story of lives saved rather than of 
lives lost. 

The collision occurred in a dense 
fog shortly before six o'clock in the 
morning, while both vessels were out 
of their courses. While the passen- 
gers were huddled on the deck of the 
Republic, water pouring into a rent in 
her port side, one whose task was all- 
important was John W. (Jack) Binns, 
Marconi operator, to whom the sur- 
vivors owed the swift summoning of 
distant ships, and the world owed what 
news it reccived within a few hours of 
the collision \ few moments after 
the Florida faded back into the mist 
whence she had come, the air above 
the ship was transmitting the code 
signal C © D. which apprised the 
world of what had happened. The Re- 


public’s whistle kept going, and this 
brought the Florida back out of the 
fog to the aid of the vessel she had 
wounded. The passengers were then 
transferred to the Florida. 

On board the Republic there remain- 
ed only the Captain, the second officer, 
the boat’s crew and the Marconi 
operator. Distant vessels, which had 
picked up the call for aid, were guided 
by Binns to the scene of the accident. 
And the cheering news had gone out 
to the world that the passengers were 
safe, the ships had not sunk and that 
there was no immediate danger. The 
wireless told its story all the livelong 
day and well into the night, until the 
electricity in the storage batteries 
gave out. The dynamos had gone 
when the engine room was flooded. 
But the great Baltic then hove in sight, 
and the Gresham from Wood's Hole. 

The world was forced to marvel at 
the now historical story told by Cap- 
tain Ransom, of the Bal- 
tic. “We got notice at 
six o'clock on Saturday 
morning,” said the Cap- 
tain, “that the Republic 
Had been in collision 
and needed assistance, 
and we turned. We 
went back and com- 
menced the search. It 
began at eleven o'clock 
and continued until 
eight at night. She was 
found finally by means 
of wireless. She heard 
our whistle and steered 
toward us, guided by 
wireless. As fast as 
dur Marconi operator 
got a message, he rushed 
it to me. I have all the 
copies. One of them 
reads: ‘You are now on 
our port bow. Can 
you see us? Republic.’ 

“Other messages 
read: ‘You are now very 
close. Can you see our 
rockets? Republic 
Steer east-southeast. 
Listen to our bell. Re- 


* of the Republi: 
public. 


Jack Binns, to whom the survivors 


summonma of rescue shins 


Re A a gy ie 
(Continued on Page 21 


BLUE PETER EDITION 


BLUE PETER 
"————- [Stand by to Sail] 


“It was a sort of blindman’s buff, 
with the wireless messages coming, 
‘Now you are hot, and now you are 
cold.’” 

The Republic rescue stands out in 
the lay mind as the first collision at sea 
to receive wireless aid. 

Only two days previously, on Janu- 
ary 20, the steamship Hamilton, of the 
Old Dominion Line, had been in col- 
lision with a car barge of the New 
York, Philadelphia & Norfolk Rail- 
road, in Hampton Roads. The distress 
call was sent out by wireless, and soon 
after tugs were towing the badly bat- 
tered steamer back to port. Then, on 
March 10, blanketed by a dense fog 
and proceeding at half speed, the coast- 
wise steamship of the Maine Steam- 
ship Company, the Horatio Hall, Port- 
land for New York, and the H. F. 
Dimock, of the Metropolitan Line, New 
York for Boston, met in the middle of 
the narrow channel known as Pollock 
Rip Slue, with a crash 
that sent the Hall to the 
bottom within half an 
hour and caused the 
Dimock to run ashore 
six hours later on Cape 
Cod Leach. The two 
steamships, looming out 
of the fog, had met in a 
crushing jar, the sharp, 
nose of the Dimock go- 
ing through the side of 
the Portland boat. The 
Wireless operator on the 
sinking Hall managed 
to transmit a brief mes- 
sage calling for aid, and 
then the passengers on 
the Hall were dragged 
to the deck of the Di- 
mock, which began to 
list. Six hours of sil- 
ence ensued, during 
which half a hundred 
Wireless stations, com- 
mercial, government 
and amateur along the 
coast from Portland to 
New London. endeavor- 
ed to obtain news of the 
accident. Revenue cut 
ters, scouring the waters 


owe the swift 


Digital Media © K2TQN 2012 


Back to Index 


fe \Al@\. (elo el are tlre\. @\a/e) 016) /etaretire) 


TRS OOO OU TO 8) 8 Bel 


BLUE PETER EDITION gra 


of Che Wireless 


rv Mt 
_ = < 
ao 
a 


—— 


(x = 


r | Early days 
SPARKS JOURNAL QUARTE eee he 


SPARKS JOURNAL USPS 365-050 


PUBLISHED QUARTERLY FOR OUR PROFESSIONAL MEMBERS WITH ISSUES SCHEDULED 


~ 


FOR SPRING. SUMMER. FALL AND WINTER ( ALTHOUGH NOT SO MARKED) BY THE SOC- = = : 
seyy OF WIRELESS PIONEERS fae A NON-PROFIT GRGANTEAT ION CHARTERED AS ~ nj 
UCH UNDER THE LAWS OF THE STATE OF CALIF. OPIES ARE FURNISHED TO rd 3 B* 
SUSTAINING MEMBERS OF THE SOCIETY WHO PAY FOR SAME THROUGH DUES, A ~ aN pis t | RK D LS 
LIMITED NUMBER OF PUBLICATIONS ARE MAILED WITHOUT COST TO SELECTED TECH- i et” *) 18 nrtra prnr 
NICAL INSTITUTIONS, COLLEGES, UNIVERSITIES, LIBRARIES. MUSEUMS AND THE } 
NATIONAL AND STATE ARCHIVES THAT WAVE REQUESTED COPIES OF SOCIETY PUB- j 
LICATIONS FOR REFERENCE OR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES, _————— 7 eel 
i G : P.O, BOX 530, SANTA Rosa, CaLiF., 95402 - U.S.A. j 
PLEASE Ret Li INQUIRSES AND CORRE SPONDENCE INCLUDING CHANGES OF 
A , a x OUS ATTENTION AND HANDLING, ’ ’ 
FDLIORIAL OFF ICE:5366-15 MENDOCINO AVENUE. SANTA ROSA, CA 95401 USA. Tne Clue Peter’ Edition 
ELEPHONE 707/542-0898) EDITOR AND PUBLISHER - WILLIAM A, BRENIMAN ‘ 
THE PRIMARY PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVE OF THE SOCIETY IS THAT OF COLLECTING. t 
RESEARCHING. AND RECORDING THE HISTORY OF COMMUNICATIONS — PARTICULARLY i 
THAT WHICH RELATES TO HERTZIAN WAVES AND THE WIRELESS OR RADIO-TELEGRAPH Click on Index item below 
MODE OF THE ART. 
EVERY EFFORT 1S MADE TO ASSURE THE VALIDITY AND AUTHENTICITY OF MATERIAL | PAGE TITLE OF ARTICLE - AUTHOR OR SOURCE 
UBLISHED HEREIN, OWEVER, THE SOCIETY AND ITS OFFICERS ASSUME NO 1 How Wireless has served the Sea - Wireless Age (Apr. 1916) 
RESPONSIBILITY OR LIABILITY FOR ERROR/S. MANUSCRIPTS AND ARTICLES PUB- | ; pats 3 a ieee ° 
“ISHED, EXPRESS THE OPINION AND VIEW OF THE AUTHOR SUBMITTING AND DO NOT : 3. The Skipper's Log. “Pilgrimage East” by The Ancient Harriner 
NECESSARILY AGREE WITH THOSE OF THE SOCIETY OR ITS OFFICERS. te: United States Steamship Lines ( 4- pages of ship pictures) 
SECOND CLASS POSTAGE HAS BEEN PAID aT SANTA ROSA, CA pd PLEASE SEND 38. "te shall always remember “former officers, dedicated to SOUP. 
HE SOCIETY OF WIRELESS PIONEERS. INC,, IF COPY CAN ipper' inued i , 
NOT BE DELIVERED. PLEASE FURNISH NEW FORWARDING ADDRESS IF POSSIBLE. 4 - a > pa ee gtd sath ye se irace rpg teeta 
WE WILL TAKE REASONABLE CARE WITH PICTURES. MANUSCRIPTS AND LIKE MATERTAL - iki - Don Het } 
RECEIVED, HOWEVER, THE SOCIETY AND ITS OFFICERS WILL NOT ACCEPT ANY / 12. Se8: Letter Roval Vikina Sea de \ 
RESPONSIBILITY FOR DAMAGE OR LOSS 10 SUCH MATERIAL, — THOSE REQUESTING 13. Sea Chantys. Pioneer Poems and Subh 
N OF MATERIAL FURNISHED SHOULD INCLUDE $.A,S.E.TO COVER RETURN a : 
AND/OR REPLY.ALL PHOTOGRAPHS SENT SHOULD BE IDENTIFIED ON BACKSIDE RE: 14. Letters from =O Members ~ The Clinometer by ivyn I. Farvelt 
NAME OF SENDER AND CAPTION OR NARATIVE COVERING WHAT/WHO IS PICTURED. 15. (Cont.) World's Fastest Operator - Dave Higginbotham, “Use 
with Salt” -— N.A. HcLeod 
16. (Cont.) Yester-Years - Frederick Cornman: East Coast Mostal- 
_ 17. gia, Phillio H. ELlis; Lost in the South Pacific - Prof. H.J. 
PUBLICATION DATE SPARKS JOURNAL Scott; HFIS Majestic - Worlds Largest Ship ? “Navy Blues” Poes 
DECEMBER 28, 1984 by Lisa Craig. 
VOL. 1 - No. 2 18.  Doctorina by Radio - Fred Rosebury. 
BLUE PETER EDITION 23. Wireless via the Back Door Route - Ralph Chase; Sea Going 
Radio shacks - Past and Present - Ben Russell 
24. Saga of the Great Lakes - Erskine H. Burton 
25. Ann Arbor Car Ferry #4 - Geo. X.H. Collier 
ScuEETy i EE Ene feOhane Te ( 26. Saga of the Taker Java Arrow — Hichael J. Orofino 
. i 27. TOURNABENT OF THE TECHNIQUES — Jan Noorderaraff 
OFFICERS &* DIRECTORS 23. fleet “EPIRB" - Paul L. Schmidt: Picture of White Star Fleet. 
: 29. Four-panel cartoon by “Radio Rex" (Gilson V.H. Willets) 
30. QUE PASO EN PUERTO RICO - CWO C.R. Harwood —- USCG. 
ERS, DIRECTORS, STAFF 31. The Hississioni Towboats —- Georae D. Brown 
32. LIFE ON THE OCEAN WAVE — Bill Deacon VE38D0 
35. (Poem) “Voice of the Night — John Avine Nash; WHO DECIDED 
Non-profit Historical Organization and WHY ? Donald K. deNeuf: It Happened 25 Years Aao. WA 
36. “OBSERVATIONS” My 50 vears as a ‘Pro’. — Harry A. Aaclaren 
Soci Wirel Yi: 38. The Heritage of a Proud Society 
ociety of (teless foneets, Inc. 39. SOWP Chapters and Members. (Capital Area and Pickerill. 
eee SS SS 40. The Sea takes its Toll. Picture of the SS Morro Castle by 


Member T. UW. Braidwood. Picture ATLANTIC CONVOY from paint— 


. tee Py ee oe ing by Tekening van J.H. Kerkhoff and poes by Jan.Noordegraf' 


| DIRECTORS SOWP CHAPTERS 


Oe SN a) as dk LE 
[1] Golden Gate (SF area) Paul N. Dane 

(\)] Yankee Clipper (New England) # 

[tt] de Forest (L.A. area) Robt. C. Wohosky 

[ Vice Presidents - Functiors] [IV] Star of India (So. Calif) Robt. C. Farris 
Senior - John J. Kelleher — Acting. IV| Jack Binns (Pac. N.W.) John W. Dudley 
Membership - John N. Elwood LVI] Marconi - Western Canada - Wm.P.Corson 
P & R Activities - Theodore K. Phelps (*) Vil] Capt. Cook [ Hawaii] Robt. H. Snyder 
Chapters - Paul N. Dane - Acting Vill) Texas Area @ 

international - Brandon Wentworth [1X] Arizona SW. John W. Elwood - Acting 
Awards - John Swaftord - acting {[X] Capital Area (Washn. D.C.) John J. Kelieher 

Finance & Audits - Eben K. Cady [Xt] Pickerill - NY-NJ Areas) T.G.Kilpatrick 

| [XH] Atoha-Capt. Cook (Hawaii) Robt. Snyder 


OFFICERS 


President ~ Judge James Harvey Brown 
Secretary (Exec) William A. Breniman 
Treasurer - Lorin C, DeMerritt 


| 


z= a 
~~ AFLOAT Ill 


MY THANKS 


Members everywhere in life 
from every walk and station. 


From every town and ci 

and every state you'd mention— 
Have written me so many things 

of happenings thro’ the yeer, 
1 couldn't begin to count them al! 

or even make them clear . - 


I only know I owe so much 
to members everywhere 


And as I put my thoughts in verse 
it's just a way to share 


[XIV] inland Seas - Gt.Lakes - Ted Phelps 
[Xvi] Gonzales - Ver. isid.BC -Len. A. Polack 


BOARD BOARD OF GOVERNORS 
[XV] Canadian Gt. Lakes - Kenneth J. Taylor 


Prof. Herbert J. Scott - Berkeley | 
Chairman 
Eric Walter - Switrerland [XV] Note-Gulf Coast - # 
# inactive (A) Acting Director. 
FOREIGN 
Switzerland — Elelweiss - Eric Walter 
Great Britain - John A. Edwards. 
Australia, So. Seas # 
| Nederlands - N. Europe ~ Cornelus Glerum 
| 


So. Africa and india (inactive) 


Fred Rosebury - Natick Ma, 
Emerson R. Mehriing, Fairfax, VA 
Mario G. Abernathy, San Diego, CA 
Robert Gleason, Annapolis, Md, 
Joseph A. Falbo, Irvine, CA 

Fred Mangelsdorf, Sonoma, CA 

Ear! W. Baker, Pt. Orchard WA 


eed 


AREA LIAISON & COORDINATION 


Great Britain - John A. Edwards 


| HO. STAFF 


Wm A. Greniman — Exec. Secretary 
Betty Lou Brown - Sec, & Records 


The meditations of my thankful heart, 
« heart much like your own, 


N.E. USA Ed. G. Raser Ruth Breniman - Staff Assistant. 
Great Lakes Area ~ Ero Erickson Elmer Burgman - Staff Aide - Archivist For _— hago Mew “sae 
S.E. USA - # Statt Correspondents: Eben K. Cady rn, une mine 


Pacific N.W. V.H. Conradt-Eberlin 
Australia~So. Pac. # 
Northern Europe - Cornelis Glerum 


Switzerland - Southern Europe, Eric Walter 


Peru (Lima) - Jose Contreras 
india & SW Asia - Dady S. Major 


Gulf Coast & Carb. - Harry A. Maclaren 


MEMBERSHIP DUES - $10.00 per calendar year or 3 years $25.00 (Plus initiation fee $5.00 tor 
EXTRA COPIES this issue: Members $3.50 each. Non-Members $5.00 


Dec, 28 1984 j 


New members . 
if evailable. 


EDITORIAL STAFF 


William A. Breniman - Editor—Publisher 


Prot. H.J. Scott - Historian 
Thorn L. Mayes - Technical Editor. 


Doneld de Neuf - Special Assionments 


So if you found some interest 
in any word or line, 


It's just “Your Soul's Reflection” 
In “Proximity with Mine“ 


ot 


LAP NOLN SL SSP UB TERN TERN FERN TORN TET TERN TEN TON JERS TOR TES TT TO TE TO TU TI Ti JI Ja ak 


sanz SPARKS JOURNAL 7-2 7 


Digital Media © K2TQN 2012 


ir ian ee We We) Ws Ses eed 


i 


Ralph Batcher Award ‘“Historiographer of the Year” 


THE SKIPPER'S 


zlos 


Serres 4 heme gion 


Suita: mm. hdidesdateiacs 


Rough Log - Ye reucient Mariners “Jravels 


| believe our members will be interested in a trip my wife, Ruth, and 
| took last November which was made primarily to accept the "Ralph 
Batcher" Award of The Radio Club of America. The Batcher Award, 
as mentioned in the last issue of the Journal, in an honor conferred .. 
‘for assisting substantially in preserving the History of Radio and tne 
Electronic mode of Communications. 


When Mr. Fred Link, President of the Radio Club first informed me of 
my selection for the honor last August, | was reluctant to commit my- 
self in making the trip to New York due to the heavy workload at HQ. 
Along with routine business, we were working on the 1985 Amateur 
Radio Call Book in addition to this issue of Sparks Journal, underway. 


| gave much thought to President Link's invitation to accept the award 
in person. With due humility, | felt that | could only accept the 
honor unless shared with our members since much of the martial and 
historical data | have used has been furnished by them and | had 
served only to assemble copy and publish in acceptable form. On this 
basis | decided to accept and share the honor with Society members as 
it will benefit our Society in many intangible ways. 


To members not acquainted with the Radio Club of America, | would 
like to tell you that they are the ...“oldest Radio Club in America, 
having been founded in 1909. Their interests in the very early days 
of wireless were in the amateur field - a wonderful field for research 
and experimentation. hence many of the early members became invent- 
ors, scientists and entrepreneurs who had foresight and faith that their 
hobby, someday, would help establish a new era of life. i went on 


ann vA Tie a 


'e 4 cee 


4-5 oe 
rn 


iy) pie 


i 
ail 


"6 TH ANNUAL DINNER » 
ANS eo > 
AWARDS PRESENTATION” 
NEW YORK ATHLETIC * & Ni 


NOVEMBER 16 


BLUE PETER EDITION gm 


nM 


President Fred M. Link [left] Radio Club of America presents Founder 
William A. Breniman, Society of Wireless Pioneers, Inc., with the first 
autographed copy of the RCofA's "DIAMOND JUBILEE" Year Book at 
their Awards Banquet at the New York Athletic Club on Nov. 16 1984, 


to fame and fortune, in fact it is said that these early members of 
the RCofA were responsible and contributed more than 80 percent of 
the improvements and growth in the communications field. 


When | informed Mr. Link that | would accept the award in person, 
many of my Wireless and Airway friends learned of my decision to 
make the trip East. It was not long before | received invitations to 
attend meetings of the Capital Area and Pickerill Chapters which a 
slight change in itinerary would accommodate. Additionally, the 
Washington Wing of the Airway Pioneers, an organization | founded in 
1958 changed their meeting date in Falls Church so | could attend. 


With the foregoing prelude as background, Ruth and | flew east on one 
of World Airway's DC-10s, Nov. 7th after leaving stewardship of the 
Society in the trusty hands of Elmer Burgman and Lorin DeMerritt. 
(Continued on Page 9) 


SLOOP PIN GVO NGG OA® 


Back to Index 


gu SPARKS JOURNAL 7-2 


ee 


CORN TENT FER TERT PORN TO PER SE YEN SE JEN JEN SE 


SAILING SCHEDULE 


Mn 08 Corre’ March Jee wre (=a s 


UNITED STATES SHEERENG POAKE 
MEMENANE SEEET CORPORATION 


Digital Media © K2TQN 2012 


OV OV 0 (O00 N OTTO ONO) 0) SATO \nT 80 OVO). 00 O18 )0/8) O\n/@\n/6\ /e\n ane) e/a) 


BY- DON THOMAS ~1340-SGP 


Although the American Line steamers "City of New York" 
and "City of Paris" were plying the North Atlantic before the 
turn of the century, it was not until after the end of the first 
World War that the United States seriously entered the North 
Atlantic steamer trade. This was when the U. S. government 
found itself with a fleet of large ex-German liners which had 
been interned in U. S. ports since 1914. The Amerika had 
been at Boston, the George Washington, Hamburg, President 
Grant and Vaterland at New York, and the Prinzess Alice at 
Manila. There were other large ex-German transports, used 
as troopships during the War, but the above-named were the 
put into use by the Shipping Board. Used as troopers since 
1917, they were in poor condition. However, after extensive 
refitting, most entered Transatlantic passenger service to Ire- 
land, England, France, Germany and Italy, in 1920, for the 
United States Mail SS Co., which soon went broke. 


In 1921 the UNITED STATES LINES was founded to act as 
general agents for the U.S. Shipping Board. These ship photo- 
graphs are from colored postcards in the author's collection. 
1929 schedule & brochure shown . 


BLUE PETER EDITION 


HARDING 


S. 5. PRESIDENT 


ROOSEVELT 


UNITED STATES LINES 


PRINCESS MATOIKA - — (1900-1933) 10,421 523x60 

16K. Launched as KIAUTSCHOU, renamed PRINZESS ALICE 
1903. First voyage as PRINCESS MATOIKA in March, 1921 
N.Y.-ITALY for U.S. Mail SS Co. 


PRESIDENT ARTHUR — WES — (1900-1933) 10,680 523x60 16K 
ex-Kiautschou, ex-Prinzess Alice, ex-Princess Matoika. 
Renamed PRESIDENT ARTHUR in August 1921. Transatlantic 


Taken over by U.S. service in 1922. Renamed CITY OF HONOLULU, 1924, and 
Lines, August, 1921 and renamed PRESIDENT ARTHUR. put in Pacific service. 


S. S. President Fillmore 


HUDSON - — (1899-1928) 9,699 499x60 16K. Built PRESIDENT FILLMORE — - (1899-1928) 10,532 499x60 
as the HAMBURG for Far Bast trade. Interned N.Y. 1914, 16K. E8x-HUDSON. Commenced Transatlantic service as 
seized 1917. Ex-POWHATAN, ex-NEW ROCHELLE. Trans- PRESIDENT FILLMORE in 1922 for U.S. Lines. Sold to 
ferred to U.S.Lines in August 1921. Renamed PRESIDENT the Dollar Line in 1924. Scrapped in 1928. 


FILLMORE in 1922. 


Baggage labels used by U.S. LIWES. 
look for their baggage on the dock under that letter. 


Ja a Ta Ta a Ja TE Ti 


ceccrerecccscccceccocwl, 


‘ 
’ 
' 
' 
‘ 
’ 
' 
’ 
' 
' 
‘ 
‘ 
' 
' 
‘ 
' 
‘ 
* 
' 
‘ 
' 
* 


RUSE 


UNITED STATES 


* LINES * 


The leters indicated passenger's last name, so that they could 


Digital Media © K2TQN 2012 


Back to Index 


gman SPARKS JOURNAL 7-2 


i i \ele bot, lee 


—— 
UNITED STATES Lincs 


ae) Ee IA PRRE Ok — > 


K EPO StS BS ee ‘ . 
> > y . 
=—s a : ae —_ 
c d I = . 
ss PRESIOENT HAROING 


— 
PRESIDENT HARDING — KDWK — (1921-1940) 13,869 516x72 PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT — KDWS — (1922-1948) 13,869 
Built 1921 as LONE STAR STATE, renamed PRESIDENT 516x72 19K. Built as PENINSULA STATE 1922, renamed 
TAFT 1922, and then PRESIDENT HARDING August 1922. PRESIDENT PIERCE 1922, and then PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT, 
Sailed Worth Atlantic for U.S.Lines 1920's & 1930's; August 1922. Sailed North Atlantic and Bermuda 
sold to Antwerp Navigation Co. in 1939 and renamed cruises until 1941! when renamed JOSEPH T. DICKMAN 
VILLE DE BRUGES. Bombed and sunk by Nazi aircraft and used as troopship in WW II. Scrapped in 1948. 
May, 1940. Author was r/o on her in 1928. 

ce ee eee, | 


Vlado States Limes 


MANHATTAN — WIBA — (1932-1964) 24,289 668x86 21K. WASHINGTON ~ WLEE — (1933-1965) 24,289 668x86 21K. 
Built 1932, largest U.S. ship when built. On run Sister to MANHATTAN, largest U.S. ship. Sailed on 
to Burope, then cruises in U.S. waters until 1941, Europe run until 1940, then cruised in U.S. waters 
when renamed WAKEFIELD and used as troopship. until 1941 when became troopship MOUNT VERNON. In 
Caught fire at sea, rebuilt, laid up, scrapped in 1948 resumed U.S. LINES service until 1951. Scrapped 


1964. Author was on maiden voyage and spent a year in 1965. Author was Chief r/o on her until leaving 
on her as 2nd r/o, leaving to join new SS WASHINGTON. for shore work as radio union organizer. 


SAILINGS | 


4 mazes a 


UNITED STATES LI 


Brochures advertising PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT and MANHATTAN 
cruises to Bermuda; baggage stickers used on the MAN- 
HATTAN and WASHINGTON; and first voyage covers from 
MANHATTAN and WASHINGTON. Capt. George Fried, famous 
for sea rescues, was Master on both ships and was grac- 
ious about autographing first voyage covers for the two 
ships. It was a pleasure sailing with him. By coinci- 
dence both he and the author retired in Coral Gables, FL, 
and bought houses across the street from each other. 


S.Se WASHINGTON 


The ee ATTN of see net 


é3) 


ee ee 


ine | 


B ac k to | Nn d eX Digital Media © K2TQN 2012 


mm SPARKS JOURNAL 7-2 


OY OV TRV OV IO TO TAN SO. ONION. TA. /@\. (0) 18) 8. 10) 70.8.8 fe f “ oO fama BLUE PETER EDITION aa 
THE UNITED STATES LINES 


By Don Thomas - 1340-SGP 


. cr peer 
S.§ GEORGE WASHINGTON © 
reg. tone 26788 


LEVIATHAN — WSN-WSBN (1914-1938) 59,957 907x100 GEORGE WASHINGTON - KDCL — (1908-1951) 23,788 699x78. 
24K. Built 1914 as German liner VATERLAND. Interned 19K. Built Germany for North German Lloyd. Interned at 
at New York and seized in 1917. Known as the “Levi". New York 1914, seized 1917. Used as troopship in WW I. 
Transported many thousands of troops in WWI. First Sailed 1920-21 for U.S.Mail Line, then to U.S.LINES in 
voyage with U.S.LINES was July 4, 1923, after exten- 1921. Sailed Transatlantic until 1932. Renamed CATLIN 
sive refitting. Prohibition and the depression meant in 1941, but returned by British and renamed GEORGE 
small passenger lists and large losses, so ship was WASHINGTON. Converted, one funnel removed, and used as 
laid up in 1934, and scrapped in 1938. troopship 1943-1947. Destroyed by fire & scrapped 1951. 


ADIOGRA 


WORLO WIiOt Wwinttieee 


RADIO OFFICERS 
FLAGSHIP LEVIATHAN, 1928 
Te 
CRORGE F. SINCLAR, City 
STANLEY W. YOUNG, Aew't Calf 
KENNETH E. UPTON, Asst 
ARTHUR J. CHARTERS, Aes't 
«CHARLES B. MAASS, Aer’ 
GERRARD C. BURTOHELL, Asw't 


Christmas card, LEVIATHAN Radio Staff, 1928. 


: PA Merete SS 


w s* 


AMBRICA — KDOW — (1905-1957) 21,145 668x74 18K. 
Built 1905 as AMERIKA for Hamburg-Amerika Line. 
Interned at Boston, 1914, seized 1917, converted 
to troopship, renamed AMERICA. Sailed with U.S. 
LINES on Worth Atlantic 1922-1932, when it was 
laid up. Reconditioned as troopship 1942, with 
single funnel and renamed EDMUND B. ALEXANDER. 
Scrapped 1957. 


REPUBLIC — KSN — (1907-1952) 17,910 599x68 14K. 
Launched 1903 as SERVIAN, sold to HAPAG, renamed 
PRESIDENT GRANT, 1907. Interned at New York 1914, 
seized 1917 and used as transport thru WWI. Renamed 
REPUBLIC in 1924 and sailed with U.S.LINES in the 
1920's and 1930's. Was a troopship and hospital ship 
in WWII. Scrapped in 1952. 


FIRST CLASS 


Passeneers 
waAME _ 


a“ 


5.5. LEVIATHA 
Sailing Date od une 


Ni er — 


FINAL 
MSTIMATION {Covdsy) 


TEN TEN TEN TEN FEN TR TEES TEES TES TERN, TURN TORN TES TES TORN TEIN TERN TERS TE 


CT a i J 


R | | Digital Media © K2TQN 2012 


Sa7y SPARKS JOURNAL 7-2 


BLUE PETER EDITION Fe] 


BY—DON THOMAS~1340-SGP 


AMERICA — WC7556 - (1940 —- —--) 33, 352 660x93 23K. UNITED STATES — KJEH ~— (1952 — ----) 53,329 916x101 30K. 
Largest U.S. ship at that time. Cruises and North Largest merchant ship ever built in U.S. Gained Blue 
Atlantic run for U.S. LINES until 1941, when taken Ribbon Transatlantic speed record from QUEEN MARY. Used 
over by Navy and renamed WEST POINT. Troopship in on Atlantic run with occasional cruises. Laid up in 

WW IT. 1946-1964 was on Europe run and West Indies 1969 on termination of government subsidy. Various plans 
cruises. Sold 1964 to Chandris Lines and renamed for operating her again have been proposed, but she 
AUSTRALIS. Still sailing under Greek registry. still is laid up in Norfolk. 


First voyage 
souvenir cacheted : 
covers from AMERICA oe PETER HewiTr 
and UNITED STATES. 47 No. 22"4 St, 
EAST ORANGE 
NEW JERSEY 


U. S. Government _ 


“5. S. President Garfield” 
a 


see" — ger - - 
UNITED STATES-LINES** 
Operators for U. S. Shipping Board 


PRESIDENT GARFIELD — KDTC — (1921-1948) 10,538 502x62 AMERICAN MERCHANT — WTP — (1920-1940) 7,430 438x58 15K. 
14K. Launched as BLUE HEN STATE. Renamed PRESIDENT On N.U.-—London run with sister ships AMERICAN BANKER, 
GARFIELD 1923. Used N.¥.-London service by U.S.LINES, FARMER, IMPORTER, SHIPPER, TRADER and TRAVELER. These 
along with sister ships PRESIDENT ADAMS, MONROE, POLK large Hog Island types were operated by U.S.LINES for 
and VAN BUREN until all delivered to DOLLAR LIWE in AMERICAN MERCHANT LINES until sold and put under Bel- 
1924. DOLLAR became AMERICAN PRESIDENT LINES in 1938. gian registry in 1940. Renamed VILLE DE NAMUR, bombed 
Ship renamed PRESIDENT MADISON 1939. Renamed KENMORE and sunk same year, as were all others except AMERICAN 
and used as transport in 1941; renamed REFUGE in 1942 BANKER (VILLE D'ANVERS). The AMERICAN MERCHANTS LINE 
and used as hospital ship. Scrapped 1948, as was MONROE was the first line struck by the ARTA in efforts for 
and VAN BUREN, ADAMS and POLK lost in Pacific 1943-44. recognition of a radio officer's union. 


PIONBER MINX — KFEJ — 13,387 563x-- --K. One of A C-2 type fast cargo vessel, one of 44 C-2 type 
nine Mariner type, fast general cargo ships freighters owned by U.S. LINES, sailing from Bast 
operated by U.S. LINES in worldwide service from Coast USA ports to world wide destinations. U.S. 
Bast Coast ports. The fleet also includes a LINES is now a highly successful operator of 
large number of C-2 freighters. container express freighters. 


a OI OE a a TE in J Te Tn J Te TT 


Back to Index 


‘Sami SPARKS JOURNAL 7-2 


Digital Media © K2TQN 2012 


Radio pioneers celebrate proud tradition 


By LARRY WADDELL 
Press Staff Writer 


THE STACCATO dots and 
dashes of Morse code still crackle in 
the ears of the more than SO veteran 
radio operators who gathered for the 
fall meeting of the Elmo N. Pickerill 
chapter of the Society of Wireless 
Pioneers yesterday. 

Among the most senior of the 
former professional “brass pound- 
ers” was the society’s founder, past 
president and current executive sec- 
retary, William A. Breniman of San- 
ta Rosa, Calif. 

Breniman, who organized the 
international society of wireless ra- 
dio operators 16 years ago, was guest 
of honor and featured speaker at the 
chapter's luncheon meeting at the 
Colts Neck Inn, Colts Neck Town- 
ship. 

He also will be honored tomor- 
row night in New York City where 
he will receive the Radio Club of 
America’s Ralph Batcher Award for 
his contributions to the wireless 
communications profession. 

Breniman became interested in 
radio nearly 70 years ago and was a 
wireless operator dunng World War 


He received his commercial op- 
erator’s license afier the war and 
went to sea, serving aboard more 
than 40 merchant ships during the 
early 1920s. 

Moving ashore in 1925, Breni- 
man was employed for more than 
three decades as a communications 
technical adviser to the federal Civil 
Aeronautics Administration before 
retiring in 1957 

Among the veteran operators 
attending yesterday was Earl W. 
Korf of Middletown Township, who 
has held an amateur radio license 
since 1919 and commercial licenses 
since 1924. 

Korf went to sea at 18, shipping 
out of San Francisco as a combina- 
tion cabin boy, deck boy and mess 
boy on the South Seas-bound bar- 
kentine Mary Winkelman in 1923, 

“We were shipwrecked on my 
very first trip,” he said, explaining 
that his ship was lost when it hit a 
reef off the Samoan islands. 

“Fortunately, no lives were lost, 
and I was credited with saving the 
captain’s wife when I gra her 


Reprinted from Asbury Park Press - Thursday, Nov. 15 1984 - Focus - By Larry Waddell - Staff Writer 


FRANK GEISEL This will chronicle the loss of a treasured friend who 
closed his key for the last time - July 12 1984. Frank had a close 
bond with the Society since he was included in the close circle of 
friends' who founded the Society in 1968. Charter Member No. 5-P, he 
was our First Secretary and Second President. 
dedicated to SOWP recruiting many of our early members and doing yeo 
His passing came after a long illness. 


map duty as required. 


Asbury Park Preas 


Willlam A, Breniman, founder of the Society of Wireless Pioneers, 
wearing what he called “the badge of the professional” — -his old 
marine radio officer's hat, speaks at a meeting of the society's Elmo 
N. Pickerill chapter yesterday in Colts Nack Township. 


just as she was about to be swept 
overboard. When | got back to the 
United States,” he continued, “I 
learned wireless and served seven or 
eight years as an operator aboard 
ships in the Pacific and in Alaskan 

In the latter, he was chief wire- 
less operator for the Alaska Packers 
Association’s Naknak cannery sta- 
tion. 

In 1930, Korf became a radio 
operator with the airline now known 
as TWA and spent about 40 years as 
an operator and navigator with 
TWA and several other airlines. 

Some of his most memorable 


IN y EMORIAM 


” 


“Ged moves in 4 mysienows way Hu wonders to perform” 


He spent the later years 


experiences came during World War 
Il when TWA held military con- 
tracts for flights throughout the 
world and Korf often had VIPs 
aboard. 

“On one flight from Karachi, 
India, to Washington, D.C., we car- 
ried Col. Jimmy Doolittle without 
really knowing just who he was and 
what he had done,” Korf said. 

“The day after we got back to 
the "States," he continued, “I picked 
up the paper and read President 
Franklin D. Roosevelt’s announce- 
ment that Doolittle had fed an air 
strike two weeks earlier that resulted 
in the first bombing of Tokyo.” 


Among other notables Korf car- 
ried during his wartime service with 
TWA were Gen. Dwight D. Eisen- 
hower, Gen. Mark Clark and Mme. 
Chiang Kai-shek, wife of the Chinese 
leader. 

He also remembered that he 
became a. member of the “Four 
Engine Glider Club” when the plane 
on which he was a navigator lost 
power on all four engines and the 
aircraft dropped from 3,000 feet to 
500 feet before the fuel flow was 
restored. 

Older readers who recall tuning 
their radios to the good music sta- 
tions in the *30s will find a familiar 
fing to John O. Seaver's amateur 
station call letters, W2XR. 

Seaver, a veteran “brass pound- 
er” from Point Pleasant Beach, said 
the letters originally were assigned to 
the experimental New York high- 
fidelity music station now idenutied 
as WOQXR. He received the call 
letters when the broadcasting station 
took its present identification. 

“[ was interested in radio while I 
was sull in high school up in Rhode 
Island,” he said. “I got my amateur 
license in 1934, the same year I be- 

came a licensed telegrapher.” 

During the late 1930s, Seaver went 
to sea as an operator aboard Clyde 
Mallory coastal freighters and Cities 
Service Co. tankers. He joined Eastern 
Airlines during World War [1 and 
served as a ground operator at both 
Newark and LaGuardia airports before 
moving on to the line's stations in 
Houston and Atlanta. 


“In an average eight-hour day as 
ground operators,” he recalled, “we'd 
handle from 800 to 900 messages and 
work at transmitting speeds of 35 to 40 
words per minute.” 


Like most veteran operators, Seav- 
er could recognize many of his radio 
colleagues by their “fist.” 

He opens that “just about every 
operator a distinctive way of send- 
ing a with a Morse key. It's 
mostly his individual rhythm in trans- 
mitting” 

Tom Kilpatrick of Boothwyn, Pa, 
director of the Elmo Pickerill chapter, 
has been licensed as both an amateur 
and commercial operator since 1942, a 
year after he completed radio school in 
Boston. 


He served a short stint early in 
World War II as a ground operator for 


The RCofA-Batcher Award 


Ed Raser 


Society 


Frank's first job as R/O was on the SS Spokane/WGE in 1919. Since, 
he has served on 17 ships until 1926 when RCA tapped him for a shore- 


job at "KPH" where he spent 17 active years at the key handling hund- 
reds of thousands of message, counless "TR's", WX reports and "PX" 
NavRadio SanDiego/NPL requested him to 
rebroadcast a "CQ" to all ships at sea re: Japanese attack on Pearl 
Frank retired in 1967 after spending 
as Manager of KPH. Ye Ed first met "FG" when he helped him lug 
his baggage aboard a new S.O. Tanker F.H.Hillman/KDVK in 1922. 
Frank was a loyal friend and dedicated to SOWP. 
He leaveshis wife Mary, Son Frank Jr. (Col. in U.S.A. and 
While our loss is deep, our profound sympathy gosto 
his wife and family members. 


also many hundred SOS calls. 


Harbor on Dec. 7 1941. 


with us all. 
two daughters. 


~ 30 - 


LOL VOLO OL NOL AGL OL NBL BLT OLA EL OLE OL OLN 


His loss is shared 


12 years oom Bn 


tory. 


Morgan McMahon 
John Rider 

Bruce Kelley 
Robert W. Merriam 


Ernst A. DeCoste 
Louise Ramsey Moreau 1982 * 
Joseph B. 
William A. Breniman 


RECIPIENTS 


1976 * 
1977 
1978 * 
1979 * 
1980 * 
1981 


1983 * 
1984 * 


Pavek 


(*) Member or Tech. Asc. 


of Wireless Pioneers 


Diamond Jubilee 


YEAR BOOK 


THE DIAMOND JUBILEE YEAR BOOK 
its members. 


A limite 


BLUE PETER EDITION jgpmp 


Pan American Airways and, for four 
months, as an operator aboard a Liber- 
ty ship carrying bananas from the 
Caribbean to North Africa. 

Kilpatrick joined the Sun Oil Co. 

in 1943 and made many trips in Allied 
convoys between the United States and 
Caribbean and England, sailing as an 
operator aboard tankers. He retired last 
year after 40 years’ service with the 
company. 
“T guess [ was lucky in my years’ 
experience at sea.” he said, “because | 
never had to transmit a distress signal. 
And my ships were never hit by the 
enemy even though we had plenty of 
scares in the waters where the German 
submarines were operating.” 

Some of the things that annoyed 
him most as an operator were “jokers 
who sent out phony distress calls that 
tied up the radio channels set aside the 
world over for emergency messages.” 

The Elmo Pickerill chapter, which 
has members in New Jersey, New 
York, Pennsylvania and New England, 
is named for an associate of radio 
pioneer Lee DeForest. Pickerill later 
was chief radio operator aboard the 
United States Line's Leviathan, the 
former German liner Vaterland that 
was the world’s largest steamship dur- 
ing the 1920s. 

In his informal address at yester- 
day's meeting, Breniman described 
Pickenill as “one of the earliest opera- 
tors to make wircless contact between 
the ground and airplanes, as far as the 
records show.” 

The socicty founder said Picken!l 
got the idea that radio could be useful 
In air-to-ground communications soun 
after the Wright brothers’ first success- 
ful Night in the early 1900s 


“When Elmo told the Wrights 
about his idea,” Breniman continued, 
“the brothers took a dim view because 
they felt the radio equipment would be 
too heavy.” 


‘Apparently therr. rejection did not 
deter Pickerill, he continned. He said 
the pioneering wireless — operator 
learned to fly under the Wright broth- 
ers’ tutclage and later took wireless 
equipment aloft from an airfield on 
Long Island. 


Near the cnd of his presentation, 
Breniman asked permission to intro- 
duce a frend of 60 years standing and 
Ae Moh his old marine radio officer's 

at. 


“This is the badge of the profes- 
sional” he said, “and I'm donating 1 
to the sncicty’s historical archives.” 


Ralph R. Batcher 


is essentially a History of the 
press run of this unusual 'one-of— 
a-kind' book is sure to make it become a ‘collector's item'. Many RC 
ofA members have been responsible for the growth and development of 
radio, especially the early days of the art. 
and many hundreds of photographs with background items you will find 
noplace else. The edition is truly a 'gold-mine' of information and his— 
A limited number of copies are available to Society members. 


There are nearly 300 pages 


Contact Fred Link, Pres. RCofA, Robin Hill Farms, Pittstown, NJ 08867 
information on the Jubilee Book and joining will be furnished. 


LOLA B GLE NBG ENGL 


SO ar 


Back to Index 


ser SPARKS JOURNAL 7-2 


Radio Club of A 


Log - rbucient Mariner 


The trip was smooth and quite delightful. We arrived in BWI Airport 
about dusk and were met by Jack Kelleher, Director of our Washington 
Chapter. He drove us to our hotel - The Howard Johnson Inn [across 
from Watergate] well located and reasonable in price, 


On November 9th, we attended a meeting of Capital Area Chapter mem 
bers as 'Guests of Honor". The setting was in the Officer's Club at 
Fort Meyers, across the Potomac - a very beautiful room in most 
attractive surroundings. Here | was presented with a meaningful 
plaque by the Chapter, with John Kelleher doing the honors. Our trans 
portation was furnished by John Swafford who kindly picked us up at 
our hotel and returned us after the meeting. We enjoyed meeting 
members of Chapter Ten, many of whom | had not previously met. 


(Continued from Page 3) 


An unexpected ‘bonus extra' was the opportunity of meeting 

“Ted" Phelps, Director of the Society's Inland Seas Chapter who drove 
over from Columbus Ohio to attend the meeting and get acquainted. 

| was also delighted in meeting some of my colleaques of ‘Airway 
Days" in Washington including "Em" Mehrling who had been Chapter 
Director and shortly will be SOWP's VP in charge of P&R. 


We also had a very enjoyable visit with an old friend - Ruth Barnabei 
whom we had not seen for many years. Her husband "Barney" and | 
had been closely associated in the CAA during the time | spent in DCA 
as Deputy Director of the Communications Division. During "Barney's" 
tenure as Chapter Director, prodigious gains were made, thanks to 

his enthusiam and dedication. Unfortunately Col. Allen Barnabei be- 
came a Silent Key Jan. 29 1983. It was therefore an inspiration to 
hear Director Kellehr and past Director "Em" Mehrling tell of the 
intense interest Ruth has maintain in the Chapter, taking care of much 
of the yeoman work, et cetera. 


On November 10th we attended a meeting of the Society of Airway 
Pioneers - another gala occasion. Here we were also the "Guests of 
Honor" at a ‘reunion' of their Wing Chapter at Fall Church Inn. My 
longtime friend "Em" Mehrling [from CAA days in 'Foqay Bottoms’ 
was Wing Director. "Em" presented me with a beautiful Silver bow! 
richly engraved,for establishing their Society back in 1958. About an 
even hundred attended and among those ; were many who worked for 
or with me in the Communicastions Division. It was a "Day to Re- 
member" in our logbook, with thanks going to "Em" for setting back 
scheduled date of their meeting several weeks to fit in with our plans 
and trip. During our stay in Washington we got in a bit of sightsee- 
ing and took in an evening at the Kennedy Center where Marlyn Horne 
gave a grand performance. Impression: | used to have no trouble driv- 
ing the streets of Washington circa early 1950's, However streets and 
roads have changed so much that | was nearly bewildered. Even my olc 
office across from the Reflection Pool where | looked out on Lincoln 
monument [T-3] was gone ! 


Leaving Washington Nov. 13th Jack Kelleher picked us up and we had a 
fine drive to Tinton Falls which is quite close to Colt's Neck Inn where 
Secretary Frank"Shelley" Shellenbarger, Secretary of Chapter XI had 
made advance reservations at the Hilton Hotel. While we did not 
expect so much hospitality we learned that one day of our stay was 
picked up by Shelley and the Chapter. 


The meeting at Colt's Neck Inn on Nov. 14th brought out nearly a 
hundred members and their guests. Here again we were “Guest of 
Honor" and here again a treasured ‘Certificate of Appreciation’ was 
bestowed upon your founder. it is a wonderful feeling to be so honor- 
ed by one's peers and it is hard to express in full our appreciation for 
their wonderful hospitality. The evening was spent with long-time 
friend Earl Korf and wife Suzanne —- a fine dinner at their home. Of 
course Earl and | “covered the wat. 2rfront" during all too drief time. 


Some of those attending the meeting had traveled long distances 
including Henry “Hank" Warner of Kennebunkport Maine. 1! also had 
the opportunity of visiting two members, antecedent in being hnored 
with the Batcher Award. These being Ed Raser [SGP-35] one of our 
Charter members and Louise Ramsey Moreau [TA-25]. | tried to meet 
every member attending. One | was particularly eager to meet was 
"Dick" Egolf [Senior-SGP-71] another Charter Member who started in 
our business on thle SS. Hamilton/KOA in 1912. Dick has furnished us 
many fine photographs of ships and radio 'shacks' which have been 
published over the years. | did enjoy a short visit Elmo Pickerill's 
Director “Tom" Kilpatrick who presented the Chapter Award. His 
picture along with several others will be seen om Page 39. 


And now on the road again - this time to "THE BIG APPLE". "Shelley" 
had offerred to drive us from the Hilton to New York Athletic Club 
but at the last moment he had an emergency call so he arranged for 

a limousine to furnish transportation to New York. We were almost 
overcome with his hospitality but considering the difficult problem on 
travel we accepted. We did enjoy the New Jersey countryside as our 
experienced driver skillfully guided his Cadillac through the maze of 
roads and bridges and deposited us at the door of the NYAC. Thanks 
Shelley! 


Incidentally, Fred Link, Prexy of RCofA and member NYAC had 

kindly made reservations for us to stay at the Club and since the pre- 
sentation ceremonies and banquet were to be held in the Club, we felt 
quite comfortable not having to travel the streets of New York at night 
New Yorkers probably take night travel in stride but after reading the 
‘Noo Yawk" papers we felt comfortable in doing our nocturnal wander—- 
ings inside. 


LPL NSIT IE SO Oye 


erica 


Digital Media © K2TQN 2012 


PRESENTATION OF RALPH BATCHER MEMORIAL AWARD 


Nov. 16 1984. Bruce L. Kelley [ Left ] Curator, Antique Wireless 
Association presenting award to Founder William A. Brenima, of 
the Society of Wireless Pioneers Inc. 


Now - a word about our host, Fred M. Link, President of the Radio 
Club of America whom | would characterize as a "human dynamo". He 
has served as President of the Club for some 15 years - longer than an 
of the 31 who have held the same office before him. 


Throughout the Communications industry, Mr. Link is known as “Fathe 
of Land Mobile Radio". As founder of Link Radio, Mr. Link is best 
known for putting "FM" radio technology in the hands of policemen in 
the U.S. and overseas for use in the Army Signal Corps during WW2. He 
began his career as an amateur radio enthusiast, then worked as Ass't. 
Chief Engineer for the DeForest Radio Company. in 1930 he founded 
Link Radio and by 1932 mobile radios made by Link's organization were 
being used by police departments in New York, Delaware, Pennsylvania, 
Connecticut and San Francisco. His tenacity and grasp of details plus 
an affiable personality have brought workwide acclaim. 1! should add 
that his 'smarts' on technology, especially “FM" did not hurt. 


There were some three hundred members and guests attending the 
Awards Banquet the evening of Nov. 16 1984. While | had travelled 
3000 miles to attend the meeting, there were members who flew in 
from Japan, Saudi Arabia and a number from Europe to attend. 


| was fortunate in having my award presented by Bruce L. Kelley, 
currently Curator of the Antique Wireless Association's museum. 

had met Bruce on his trip West, circa 1972 at the Foothill College 
Museum when they dedicated a room to Dr. Lee DeForest. Mr. 
Kelley has a tremendous voice, well modulated and delivery of his 
eulogy placed me on ‘Cloud Ten' [ No space teft on C-9.] Following 
the presentation | was grateful for the opportunity of giving a short 
talk about the Society and our effort to preserve the history of the 
radio-telegraph and communications (art) of the early days before it 
becomes lost to posterity in the mists of time. 


During our brief stay in New York City, we toured Lincoln Center and 
took in the first day of the Rockettes Christmas show at Radio City. 
Never had we enjoyed them so much. 


Included in our travel plans was Thanksgiving week to enjoy a visit 
with our son and wife in Elkhart, Indiana. The reason for taking 
rail rather than air was convenience - good over night schedule 
from Grand Central Station in New York to Chicago - besides, |! 
had always been a “rail buff, 


We did enjoy a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner with Son Warren and 

his wife. The first opportunity we have had in twenty plus years. A 
brief stopover in Chicago to change trains and a luncheon with a good 
friends . . . then on West ! The trip through the Rockies over the 
old D&RG tracks (through Moffet Tunnel) was grand. The air was 
crystal clear and the mountains stood out in all their pristine glory. 
Good connections arriving Oakland with a few minutes wait for bus 
which delivered us to our doorstep. 


So many friends have inquired about the trip, | thought this letter 
would serve to record another episode of history which might not be 
all important but was wonderful. | could write an epilogue of things 


overlooked and people not mentioned but will ask your indulgence 
and pardon. 
well as Ye Ancient Mariner" benefited from the trip. 
Founder, | can say that “we have one of the best organization" 
quality of members 


1 should mention in closing that | feel the Society as 
Finally, as 
and 
| have ever observed - Ever ! 

William A. Breniman — Secretary 


ship ’s mail 


Back to Index 


PREITY renee 


Sects ieee, — Pierhead J 
Ae fie se seas, ierhea ump ie 
“Ss WS Pmt ecru Mesh» saan 
JEON Grete | aie wos 
aes SENS, an ere dnt 
aye) Lssen, Time Tick * side 


kee eid ar 
eases oy eo ie acc SALES a LIS agian Sr 


air Canara wars 
"68 MC Sian, “oe ats ities 


Serie Shack Ph ae os, é) ee * tel 


me e Slop td 
Saher Soaiacd eels, nieihnnsene as OSG) heat Sis ay ow BE, ae ‘9049, dou, Bien hk 


nc world of the Radio Operator is a unique one. 
Not only does he have the opportunity of visiting 
‘far away places with strange sounding names' but 
he has to learn to live with a terminology and 
nautical slang that is strange and different. 


For example: While officially he may be signed on 
as the ship's Radio Officer, he suddenly becomes 
"SPARKS" to all of the crew members, When he uses 
a typewriter, it suddenly becomes a "mill". In 
sending messages he 'tickles' his 'bug' unless he 
has a 'glass-—arm'. The rotary gap suddenly be- 
comes a 'rock crusher' and when he receives mes- 
sages his detector is usually a ‘cats whisker' to 
find the most sensative spot on his hunk of 'rock' 
(galena). 


Sometimes he has to jar the Chief Engineer's come 
pass to have the 'juice' turned on, When all goes 
well, the sigs slide off his 'sky hook' without 
trouble unless QRM or QRN give him a bad time, 


Sometimes people ashore call him a ‘Jack Tar' or an 
‘Old Salt' unless he is out of work when they call 
him a 'beachcomber,' Of course when assigned he 
takes his 'ticket' aboard the 'rust-—bucket' and 


puts it up in the shack where he stands his 'trick'. 


Some even sport 'pink' tickets--they are the elite! 


While the ship is working cargo he has to watch out 
for the ‘winch hog' or 'winchie' who drives the 
winches that control the slings. He also has to 
watch out for the 'reindeer' who are the fast 
handed-truckmen shuttling cargo. Guard against 
the 'pile-drivers' who are the careless winchmen 
who set their load down hard or the 'appleknockers' 
who may be a green hand at the winch. 


Once aboard he becomes acquainted with 'Bucko' the 
mate, Dicky, the Second Officer and 'The Old Man' 
who might still be in his late twenties or early 
thirties. The Old Man is the’Skipper"of the 'Oil- 
can' if she is a tanker, a 'Reefer' if she carries 
refrigerated carg a'pig—-boat', if she is a sub- 
marine. 


a cattle-boat or if Sparks has enough sen- 


Witetses J 


MESSAGES HERE 


far a is eres Bc y is 


Seeiatitste Box ‘the Compass ee aE 


ate 


* HEY. WAN, Hows IT GOING? Ae ANY G00 
Doma CODE BGOKS LATELY ¢ 


Digital Media © K2TQN 2012 


diay dey Fh Eyes SEs $i Mise ae sit? 
Say ca ses Shi 
5 + af 4 vee see 


ele Sie ck 


¢ ‘ioe 


oe 
Se ae We a 


Ka eee 


sa beth hey ie 


xt 


a 


x the Compass fie ta cee 


one Sata Scr » Ga : ie 
ee Si eas a ak : 
See 


iority, he might "pull' an assignment on a 'Grey- 
hound! that sails the ‘Western Ocean' to Europe. 


Some Ops enjoy assignments on 'Hurrah-boats' which 
are excursion steamers. Others sail on a 'pick- 
ocket' which means a boat of small cargo capacity. 
‘Banana-boat' which carries the golden fruit from 
the Carib to various ports, North and South, while 
others are content on a 'Tramp' and wouldn't sail 
anything else, 


In sailing the 'Main', Sparks will probably cross 
"The Line' which might be the equator in which 
event he will be initiated by King Neptune and 
party. Perhaps initiated isn't the word but he 
will be painfully aware that Davy Jones and all of 
the denizens of the deep carry out their appointed 
missions with dispatch and aplomb even if dignity 
fails to prevail. Of course the 'line' might be 
the *Sunday-Monday Line' if you are sailing the 
‘drink’ across the Pacific which means crossing the 
180th parallel of longitude. Your route may take 
you through the 'Roaring Forties' where you can ex- 
pect some 'heavy weather' (generally between 40 and 
50 degrees North or South Latitudes. The Gulf is 
generally the Gulf of Mexico, The 'Medi' refers to 
the Mediterranean, Salt Chuck is Puget Sound, The 
Potato Patch is a stretch of water at the tip of 
Coney Island where the currents of Gravesend and 
the ocean mingle and cause bad eddies; Cape Stiff 
refers to Cape Horn; Cross Roads of the World - 
Panama Canal; Down under refer to the antipodes-- 
especially Australia, New Zealand and Tasmania, 
Hululand Hawaii, Limeyland is England, Newfie, 
Newfoundland. Sable Island is known as the Grave- 
yard of the Atlantic and your port of destination 
is sometimes known as 'Hole in the Beach'. Carib 
of course refers to a voyage into the Caribbean. 


Of course blue-water sailors include all national- 
ities. The ‘herring-snapper' is usually a Nova 
Scota or Newfoundland seaman and a Down-Easter hails 
from Maine. The true Blue Nose is a Nova Scotia 
seaman while a Lascar is an East Indian, The 
Frogs come from France and the Krauts from Germany. 
The Yankees and the Limeys usually fight the Revo- 
lutionary war all over again when they meet in a 
bar shoreside. Decision always indecisive. A 
'Swensker is a Swedish seaman while a Scandihoov— 
ian, Scowegian or Scandiwegian refers to a Scan- 


dinavian, Continued on Page 11 


Back to Index 


HMB SPARKS JOURNAL 7-2 


Telling it the Way it Was 


A ship usually has its roster of ‘characters’. The 
*‘Forecastle rat‘ is a spy for the officers or owners; 
JONAH is usually a sailor who brings bad luck to the 
ship. ‘The Sea-dog or Sea Stiff is usually found on 
the ‘tramp’ steamers. The sea-lawyer is usually an 
egotistical and talkative sailor; a sea-pig likes his 
chow. Deckaroo is the term sometimes used for the 
deck hands while the ‘Black Gang work below in the 
engine room. Pive or Sixer usually loans money to 
fellow ship-mates. You take five and pay back six 
(dollars, pounds, pesetas, guilders, etc.). A number 
tener may jump ship while a number eleven will com- 
plete the round trip. A rain squad is a sea-sick 
sailor, while a ‘peanut is a comic cup-up. Tom 
Pepper is one who tells ‘tall‘ stories. A shell- 
back, Barnacle or old salt are all ‘old timers' while 
a ‘seagull’ or 'snow-ball eater' are all retired sea- 
men. 


Endearing names reserved for the inexperienced sea- 
men are often called any of the following pet names: 
Cherrypickers, plow coxwains, fresh-water sailors, 
landlubbers, fair weather sailors, hooshiers, land- 
lubbers, soogee sialors, swabs. etc. 


Since weather and state of the sea is of prime in- 
terest to SPARKS who has to collect such info, the 
peculiar terminology has a meaning all of its own. 
Dirty Sky is a cloudy, stormy sky; Muzzler or nose- 
ender is a head wind while a dead-muzzler is a hard 
head-wind. A soldier's wind is generally a beam 

or favorable wind. Q is a squall or squally wea- 
ther while a ‘stiff' un is a gale. A living gale 
is a furious gale. A Nor'‘wester as the name im- 
plies is a Northwest Gale while you would call it 

a Chocolate Gale if sailing the West Indies. 


Dutchman's breeches is a patch of blue sky while a 
Dutchman's Cape (or Cape Flyaway) is a cloud on the 
horizon mistaken for land. Cat's tails, cocktails, 
colt's tail, mare's tale, etc., are types of cirrus 
clouds having the appearance of a cat's tail. Sea- 
grass is a mass of small hairlike cirrus clouds pre- 
saging a storm. A ‘pea-souper' is a very heavy fog 
while the cock's eye is a sudden gleam of sunshine 
in a dark sky. The Devil‘s smile is spots of sun- 
shine during stormy weather. 


When watching the ocean you may see the ‘Merry Men 
of May' which are currents caused by ebbing tides; 
Popple - an irregular sea, Dirty water and a pecky 
sea means a rough choppy sea while if you are sail- 
ing the far north you may observe ‘ice pan‘ which 
is caked ice on the sea or ‘land trash‘' cakes of 
ice near the shore. 


Perhaps man does not live on bread alone - but it 
sure helps. Fond memories of chow aboard the old 
hooker? We still recall the Dandy Funk which is 

a pudding of hardtack and molasses; The ‘fish eyes’ 
or tapioca pudding; Sea Pie which is resurrection 
bolly or pie with fish, sand or sea dust. Resur- 
rection pie by the say is leftovers of meat and 
vegetables cooked in decks between layers of dough. 
Punk of course is bread while Irish horse is tough 
corned beef. Canned monkey is embalmed beef while 
Monkey-meat is canned beef. Salt horse is salt 
beef, and Salt Junk is tough salt beef. Chicken 

is often referred to as ‘Sea Gull Stew' while those 
who like fish will enjoy Cape Cod turkey which is 
salted codfish; Salmon is sea beef or pork while a 
can of Sharks is a can of sardines. We wash this 
down or ‘mug up’ with Moke although some ‘go round 
the buoy’ which means to have a second helping. 

All seamen are a hungry lot. Later we may have a 
little Cape Horn rainwater (rum) or a ‘Second mate‘s 
nip which is spiked with full measure of liquor. 
Many sailors SPLICE THE MAIN BRACE (mostly for fa- 
tigue) after a hard night fighting QRM/QRM or weak 
sigs. (This usually in cold or cool (?) weather.) 
When we land a new assignment, we have been known 
to ‘wet our stripes’ in celebration, thereof. 


Of course one who can not control his intake or is 
slightly inhibited might be described as being 
‘awash’ or primed to the ‘plimsoll mark’. He might 
also be well-spliced or moored in sots bay. Some 
might be charged with being a sheet in the wind or 
even four sheets in the wind, watertight with full 
cargo aboard, under too much sail, etc., etc. 


Some of the daily routine we get used to is the 
Mate (and or others) shooting Charley Noble every 
day at noon. Not with a gun, with a sextant (to 
fix the ship's position). We get a ‘time-tick' 
from NSS, etc. Occasionally, we join the Suicide 
Club when we have a dangerous job such as antenna 
work, etc. We watch the mate ‘Jog the horse’ or 
ride ‘em down the maintack which means to work or 
drive the crew hard. 


~~ 


Digital Media © K2TQN 2012 


BLUE PETER EDITION gap 


Pinally the day comes when we ‘Swallow the Anchor‘ 
This means that we quit the sea. Some day we ‘hit 
the beach' or have ‘channel fever'. We know that 
we have not shammed Abrahams or worked a Tom Cox's 
traverse. 


At peace with the world, we can ride at anchor and 
catch some well earned garden steerage after a long 
tour of duty. We will guard against buying a white 
horse (squandering our money) and will catch the tide 
(seize the opportunity) of putting down the hook as 
we fly the red flag at the mast-head (to be in ern- 
est) while carving out a spot in the Fiddlers Green 
(a seaman's place in after-life). So in conclusion, 
I will give one and all a ‘Shake of my starboard 
fore lift' (shake hands) as I say ‘30° and sail 
into the Sunset. 

--Bill Breniman 


* LISSEN, (‘LL BE HONEST WITH You... 
IT NEEDS A LITTLE WoRK- 


The more I circle round you, 
Love's current stronger grows, 
Till leaping forth from heart to heart, 
Love's arc electric glows. 
inst the ardor of that flame 
nsurance won't insure, 
For, Love, you are the magnet, 
And T the armature. 


The messages unnumbered, 
Of fond endearment fly, 

At once, in all directions, 
The wireless they out-vie. 

A throbbing heart is at the key, 
Its dots and dashes sure, 

For, Love, you are the magnet, 
And I the armature. 


I dwell within vour field of force, 
In that blest region where 

Your strength is to the distance, 
Inversely as the square, 

No influence external, 

n me from you allure, 

For, Love, you are the magnet, 

And T the armature. 


At last we'll cling together, 
Apart no more to roam, 
With hearts attuned harmonic, 
We'll sing of Ohm. sweet Ohm, 
One circuit never broken, 
While life and love endure, 
Forever you the magnet, 
And T the armature. 
—Park Benyawin 


Wireless Age — July 1915 


Digital Media © K2TQN 2012 


— 


SEA — LECK" 


ROYAL VIKING SEA 


ROYAL VIKING UNE 


P.O Box 1612 Vike Oslo 1 Norway 


Piraeus, Greece, May 5 1984 


Donald K. deNeuf From: Chief R/O Per A. Mikalsen 

602-B-HV M/S "Royal Viking Sea" 

Southbury, Ct. 06488 P.O. Box 1612 Vika, 0119 Oslo 
Norway 

Dear Don WA1SPM: 


Thank you very much for the beautiful QSL card you have, and 
those very interesting and informative copies of enclosed mat- 
erials. I enjoyed very much reading about yourself, see the 
picture of yourself, plus info. about various communication 
tapes, etc. I therefore want to write you back, so you can 
see that I am still aboard this vessel. 


Quite recently we learned that the Norwegian owners sold out 
the whole company to American interests. However, we under- 
stand that the new owners, where mentioned J.H. Whitney and 
other investors, also the Rockefeller name has been briefly 
mentioned, are some of the "money-men" behind the purchase. 
They say that they intend to continue operating the vessels 
the same way as before, and with mostly the same people. We 
do not yet know what flag we are to sail under, but I under- 
stand they are negotiating with Norwegian authorities, if they 
can continue to sail them under Norwegian flag. There are some 
details still to be ironed out, so at this time, we still do 
not fully know what future holds regarding flag of registry. 
If it is changed, I will have to stop using my LA3FL/MM call, 
and perhaps get another one, if I am continuing here. Well, 
you will to have keep listening for me on the air. I am al- 
most daily at sea QRV in the lower 30kHz of 28, 21,14 and 

7 MHz, conditions permitting, and of course workload in the 
commercial shack permitting. 


It is extremely busy in the commercial shack, mostly telex 
and telephones, but the CW is still in use. We monitor a lot 
of CW transmissions, mostly "traffic-lists", but occasionally 
also handle telegrams by CW when "Coastal radio stations" 
ashore have no sitor radio telex facilities. 


I am enclosing a photo copy of a picture of myself, and also 
a copy of a picture showing the traffic we handled in a single 
month, All those telephone calls where nobody answered, are 
of course not pictured, hi. .... 


'Per' A Mikalsen, 
Chief Radio Officer 
M/S ROYAL VIKING 
STAR - “LECK" 


ee Win amen BLUE PETER EDITION Tan 
ee ee eee es ee eee eee eee ee ee eee 
j EDITOR'S NOTE | 


Member Don de Neuf furnished us with the letter 
appearing on this page from Chief Radio Officer 
| ‘Per' A, Mikalsen of the Cruise Motor Ship, M/V 
"Royal Viking Sea" as he thought it would be of 
ql considerable interest on 'modern-day' ship traffic. i 
The letter was dated MaySth 1984 and mailed 
from Piraeus, Greece. Qualify of photographs may i 
t not be good as they were from copies of originals. 
WASB. 


ee 


Since these 2 pictures were taken last year, the volume of 
traffic has increased a lot and it is a "rat-race" for the 
officer on duty in the radio room. 


We are totally 3 radio officers here, one for each watch, my- 
self included. The traffic is so heavy, that we have to work 
a lot of overtime, and 2 men are needed on watch quite often, 
in order to cope with the traffic, handling it as fast and 
efficient as I like to see it take place. 


It is therefore, "heaven" for me to relax in my cabin, with 
only one amateur rig and only one circuit going. 


When at duty, we have most often several circuits going sim- 
ultaneously, while the ship's telephones are ringing around us. 
We have 3 telephone lines inwards from the vessel's automatic 
telephone exchange. As you may know, we have besides the radio 
equipment, also a satellite communication terminal. This ves- 
sel was the very first cruise liner to have such a system put 
in, back in 1976. 


However, it is too expensive to use for telephone calls, as the 
charges are approximately US $10.00 per minute for telephones 
to USA via an American satellite earth station. From here in 
the "Med" we work most of the telephone traffic via Rogaland 
radio/LGB Norway, they have an excellent quality and cover just 
about around the clock all waters in these waters extremely 
well, The charges run US $4.20 per minute, or reduced between 
10 pm till 10 am and all Sunday at a rate of US $3.75 per min- 
ute. There are besides, several other radio stations we can 
use for telephone calls, but they are not as fast and good and 
reasonable as LGB. 

Too bad that Norway does not allow 3rd party traffic, as I 
often would like to have a patch to my many American friends, 
without being able to take advantage of this when working hams 
at their QTH's. 


Anyway, Don, I do hope to catch you again. I work approx. 99" 
% CW, but do QSY to SSB on request, but I understand you are 
indeed a CW man yourself. 


Thanks ever so much for sending me this interesting old-time 
info. I hope to be able to hook up with you again from my 
home QTH of Alta, Norway (Approx 70N 23E) from mid-July till 
mid-August this year. Up there I have a 3 band 5 ele yagi 
(TH5SDX) on top of a HY-Gain 52 SS free-standing crank-up tower. 
We do have very little wind in the area, so I expect every- 
thing to be standing as I left it, when I return up there. 


I believe I will be back sailing here again in mid-September, 
and will try to be working the ham bands also then, depending 
flag and rules and regulations. 


Best 73 de LA3FL/MM 
S/PER (Per A. Mikalsen) 


Note about commercial equipment: 

2 Main TX, 2 Res. TX (by EB Norway) 

7 Main RX (various brands), 3 VHF 

Telephones, Magnavox sat. comm., 

2 telex machines. 

One new automatic telex 

transceiver ordered, incl, 

keyboard, printer, Video display, word processing, etc. 


This pictures shows the volume of traffic handled in one 
single month aboard the liner M/S "Royal Viking Sea. 
Traffic has increased since, Molalsen informs. 


LENGE NBL BL SOL NGL SOL NGI NGL NGI OLE OLS OLIGO NOL GLI OLIN SOLE OL OL OLE OL VOL BENSON ES OLR) 


Back to Index. 


sau SPARKS JOURNAL 7-2 


4494444499999 95949934 


(e\-/8\. 188 a) 8) 8 aa 8 ae 


Digital Media © K2TQN 2012 


i SE SA A Re A SA Nee Ns NA DE A A A RR ML SO DA NO NE NE DS A ts Dd MD 


“Lifted” from Wireless Age,World Wide Wireless and Those of Early Days 


rrr ry 


BLUE PETER EDITION ‘gry 


sea chanteys - pioneer’s poems & such. 


5 oro Fore 


THE WIRELESS AGE 


Novemuen, 1915 


OY races sin : 
Y Narherine Drayton Mayranl Simons 


ae tiling 


At noon she cleared from the Cooper quay, when the stevedores were 
through. 
The wanton wastrel lipped the piles, and the floodtide frothed in blue. 


The freight she bore beneath her hatch, like many of her ilk, 
Was the long, sea-island cotton strand that the women wear for silk. 


Her lean-faced Mate and Skipper swore, finding no word too hard 
To curse the rules of meddling fools at the harbor Navy Yard. 


“'Tis money sunk in useless junk and a bit of a nuisance as well,” 
Thus they spoke of the Marconi set installed on the Southern Belle. 


Above swayed the antennx, and the crippled lad below 
Was listening in for noonday calls, his wizened face aglow. 


She made the cape in the dun of dawn, where the hog-backed rollers run, 
And raised the lights of Diamond Shoals, gone pale against the sun. 


The August sea was sultry-still, the sky remained jewel-blue, 
But the underswell swung sullenly beneath the sobbing screw. 


The glass, at noon, fell suddenly. Her Skipper gnawed his lip 
As the gusty wind veered round behind and struck the plunging ship. 


He read the brief marconigram, and cursed its terse advice: 
“Gale off the Indies—put to port—” and he tore the message twice! 


“By the living God, I’m master here! I dock the Southern Belle 
On Monday morn in Boston slip, or else in the slips o’ hell!” 


WIRELESS AGE - NOVEMBER 1915 


The New Wireless Telephone 


An Artist’s Idea of How Its Operations May Be Popularized 


Y ———. 

{Mm SomE Gossie’s\ 

aAnvrning / | 1” TRO aim. , 
\ From FLAT OUSN 

~ pres . od 


A Song of Wireless 


Tah-daah-dah-dah, the king am I, the monarch of today; 
O’er earth and air and sea and sky, I hold unquestioned sway 
My Mercury-shaming couriers spring up from every clime, 
Turn night to day, and laugh away the threats of Father Time. 
From Eiffel’s lofty reaches, 
To Poldhu’s lonely beaches, 
From Sayville down to Arlington, across to Frisco town, 
Honolulu, Yokohama 
From proud old Fujiyama 
To Hong Kong and Vienna, men do homage to my ‘crown, 


Tah-daah-dah-dah, the superposed gray bulldogs of the sea; 
Loose triple-gun damnation at a word of code from me, 
My crackling spark gaps guide aloft the swooping aeroplane, 
And far below, with decks awash, the deadly submarine, 
They solve the ether’s mystery 
They write the page of history. 
And when, a thousand miles at sea, comes sudden grim distress, 
Trim liners melt their funnels, 
Lazy trampers drown their gunnels, 
As they speed “Four bells,” in answer to my ringing S. O, S. 


Tah-daah-dah-dah, | tell the world of sorrow and of mirth, 
With Wall Street stock quotations flanked by news of death and birth, 
My messages are broadcast—seek not a chosen few, 
But fall alike upon the ears of Christian, Pagan, Jew. 
I span the racing oceans, 
Safe from their wild emotions, 
And I flout the booming breaker as he rages far below; 
I join the hands of nations, 
In firm, newborn relations ; 
I unify the universe; I’m king—King Radio. 


WIRELESS AGE - March 1917 —V. C. Jewel in Leslie's. 


RADIO RAVINGS 


Conducted by D. Precriff Ins/ater 


That Station 


Of all the stations I have worked, 
This station is the best. 

A “haunt” for all the lazy boys— 
And those who need a rest. 


wittiam! 
WHY ARENT Hard at work at six o'clock, 
hal Off come coats and vests, 

TOOAY You carry in a pile of wood 


To smoke away the pests. 


These pests are mainly different bugs, 
(The skeeters are the worst), 

And on the war-path all the time 
For naught but blood they thirst. 


With head ‘phones on at seven bells, 
You shoot some N-I-Ls. 

The spiders get so thick just then 
You pray for shrapnel shells. 


At eight o'clock the ‘larm is set, 
To wake you up for lunch; 

You dim the glim and pull the shades— 
And roll up in a bunch. 


ZOV SSAITIAUMIM AHL 


At one o'clock you Q-R-U, 
And set your clock for four; 
To get that M-S-G report, 
The P & O waits for. 


At four o'clock your work is done, 
You've got that M-S-G; 
So nap till six, then doctor up 
The log, artistic-ly. 
A (Modest) Reader. 


SIGL ‘Mau aAON 


World 


Back to Index 


TE SPARKS JOURNAL 7-2 


-.fsrom 
SOWP Members 


The Clinometer 


| 


| BY- IVYN 1. FARWELL 


On May 9, 1917 I was assigned as second wireless 

operator to the Matson Navigation Co's liner SS 

nar ee This would be my first trip to the Hawaiian 
slands,. 


The United States had declared war against Germany 
in April, 1917. The Manoa was a fine ship - a 
freighter with passenger accomodations for fifty. 

I was pleased with the assignment, although I had 
recently done a trip on the most luxurious liner on 
the Pacific Coast, the SS Northern Pacific. Wire- 
less jobs with Matson Ships were highly regarded. 
The Manoa had a fine wireless, a 500 cycle quenched 
gap set, as good as any on the Pacific coast, and 
the ship was noted for Matson Cuisine, This voyage 
turned out to be a noteworthy one. 


The Manoa made Honolulu in about six days. Nothing 
unusual, to mention. We had, however, to publish 
the "Ocean News" for the passengers, which required 
considerable typing and mimeographing. 


On arrival in Honolulu we found the harbor crowded 
with ships of all sizes, many of them foreign, that 
had been interned since the beginning of the war to 
escape possible capture by the British Navy. Among 
them was the largest, the German freighter, SS Pom- 
mern. It is about this ship that we are now con- 
cerned, 


The Pommern had been interned with the crew aboard, 
waiting for a German victory and their freedom. But 
it was not meant to be that way. The U.S, entered 
the war and surprised them, removing the crew and 
confiscating the ship in the name of the U.S. Ship- 
ping Board. 
siderable damage was done to the vessel by the crew. 


The Pommern was tied up to a dock near the Manoa. 

At the first opportunity the "sparks" (wireless ops) 
wandered over to see what the Germans had done to 
such a fine ship. 


Our tour of inspection started at the bridge. There 
we found bits of flags that had been torn up. Some- 
one said that an American flag had been treated in 
that manner. fThe wireless cabin was behind the 
bridge. There we saw evidence of quick destruction 
of the equipment. The transmitter and receiver had 
been thrown overboard. Auxiliary equipment had also 
been destroyed. 


From the bridge we next went to the crews cabins on 
deck, There was evidence of fast departure every- 
where. In one cabin I found what was to be a clin- 
ometer, or list indicator. Some crew member with 


time on his hands had been painstakingly making 
such an instrument by filing it out of a piece of 
1/8" brass sheet. The pointer had been completed 
in the form of an anchor, It was a beautiful job 
of cutting and filing. This I appropriated for a 
souvenir. The seale, showing the degrees of list, 
was incomplete, and, although I kept it, it had been 
lost through the years. The size and shape of the 
pointer is shown here in this exact tracing. It is 
beautiful hand work, 


rooms. This was where the real damage had taken 
place. The boilers had been dry-fired and melted 
down. 


out source of steam and electrical power. There was 


other damage in the engine room, but it was insignif- 


icant. We saw no evidence of any effort to scuttle 
the ship. 


Without power the Pommern was destined to be towed to 


San Francisco for repair. The Manoa was selected to 


do the towing job. 


fact that it had a towing winch on the stern, with the 
necessary cable. 


It was done quickly, but not before con- 


This alone made the Pommern a "dead" ship, with} As did the Ops of the Cw trade 


A possible reason for this was the 


Digital Media © K2TQN 2012 


BLUE PETER EDITION imam 


"Some -'Stranger than Fiction! 


IExperiences-Adventures 


German Steam Ship “Pommern” 1917 


After ten days of loading sugar in Kahului, Maui, and 
Honolulu, the Manoa picked up the dead ship with the 
help of a Navy tug. 


A "prize" crew of three or four was placed aboard the 
Pommern by our captain. For communication, the exper- 
tise of the "sparks" ingenuity came forth. The freigh 
clerk of the Manoa, a former wireless operator who 
kmew the code, was placed on the tow with a makeshift 
"wireless". It consisted of a doorbell buzzer, severa 
dry cell batteries, the spare headset from the Manoa's 
wireless spares, and a makeshift key. A single wire 
strung between the masts of the rn, served as an 
aerial. It was remarkable how this tiny buzzer "trans 
mitter" worked. For eleven days our captain_would keep 
in touch with his crew on the dark ship, yack ace 
only lanterns and subsistence supplies of canned 

made edible with makeshift cooking facilities. 


The Manoa was ready to start the 2100 mile trek to San 
Francisco the latter part of May, without passengers. 
This was a blessing for the wireless ops, as they 
didn't have to publish the "Ocean News" for the return 
trip. The communication worked well, and we shoved 
off with our baby at the end of a quarter mile tether. 


The return trip to S.F. was uneventful, and the weathe 
was favorable. On June 5, 1917 we arrived unscathed. 
The Pommern was unleashed and taken to the Bethlehem 
shipyard. It was repaired quickly and sent to duty in 
the Atlantic against its former owners — Germany, re- 
named; the name unknown to me. 


This voyage concluded my "tour" as a commercial wire- 
less (radio) operator, which had taken two years - 
1915 to 1917 on six different vessels from lumber 
schooner to elite liner. I then chose my next career 
as an aviator by enlisting in the Aviation Section 

of the Signal Corps in November, 1917. 


by - Ivyn I, Farwell - 427-SGP 


{ THE SWINGERS 


To you, my friend, with the musical swing 
Your CW fist is surely a thing 

Of talant and beauty, a pleasure to hear. 
Your CW style really pleases my ear. 


Lh et th tt tt I I Rt 


Want everything perfect, just like the way 
They hear it on tape, a mechanical thing. 


{ 

|! 

The younger gang, the Ops of today 

{ 

They just can't copy a brass pounders swing. 


From swinging fists, history was made 


So keep it up swingers, side-swiper or bug. 
There's still some around whose heart strings you'll tug 
With your musical fist, and you can bet 

You'll brighten the ears of the old “swinging set”. 


jKen Johnson 2308-P 1984 


Digital Media © K2TQN 2012 


Back to Index 


mE SPARKS JOURNAL 7-2 BLUE PETER EDITION gn 


The World's Fastest Operator 


BY- DAVE HIGGINBOTHAM 


I TAKE exception to the article in the April Sparks Journal 
which says that Ted MacElroy must have been an amateur. NOT 
SO, HE WAS A COMMERCIAL OPERATOR. The extra-fast operators 
the article mentions as copying 100 wpm are none that I know 
in radio ever heard of and none of us ever knew of such an 
achievement. I very much doubt it can be done altho I will 
not say it's impossible as I have been fooled before. But 
I'd have to see it to believe it. 


Here is the MacElroy story: 


Ted came to WSO, RCA Chatham radio sometime in late 1920 or 
early 1921 direct from the Western Union, sat right down on 
a trans-Atlantic radio circuit and copied Continental code. 


After some months he transferred or was transferred to Radio 
Central New York City. 


He was not there long (got in a fight with the bosses, I 
heard) turning up in Chicago winning a speed contest at 77 
wpm. This, to me, is the world's record. 

Next we heard that he had a radio school in Boston. 
enterprise folded, 


Circa 1932-33 someone yelled up from the foot of my out- 
side stairs in Bar Harbor, Maine. It was Macl 


"What you doin* in Bar Harbor?" I asked. 
"Sellin' stoves." 


I heard sometime later that he had started in business, manu- 
facturing "bugs". 

My next encounter with him was when I was at NAD, Navy Radio 
Boston in 1941 or 42. I decided to look him up and found the 
factory, a loft. He was happy to see me. Showed me around 
the place. Had one refrigerator cooling his glasses, another 
for the drinks. In one corner a pile of cases of liquor. 

(He was quite a boozer). "See Those aluminum rods stacked up 


against the ceiling?” he asked. "I was just getting along, 
making enough to buy a bottle when I wanted to, until last 
year. Had an order for practice sets from the army. They 
were lousy; I figured I'd never get another so I put a high 
price on ‘em. But they repeated and repeated and at year's 
end I wound up with a lot of cash. Figured that aluminum 
was going to be in short supply so bought all those rods. 
Good deal." That was the last time I saw him. 


During WWII when visiting Fred Tuthill, a brother RC operator, 
at that time Assistant Communication Officer for the 8th Fleet, 
in Algiers he said, "After the war you and I and Ted should 
get together in a company making equipment. You could be the 
sales manager, etc." 


I heard some years later that Ted never returned to the States, 
had divorced his wife, returned to England, his homeland, and 
married a British heiress. 


So that was the end of the scheme and this is the end of my 
story, except to say that Mac is no longer with us having be- 
come a silent key some years ago, 

NOTE: 


I know what speed radio operating is;-—-as a top operator with 
RCA in New York (Radio Central) won best all-around operator 
award (late 1920's) in a competition including receiving radio, 
receiving telegraph, copying radio tape and perforating trans- 
mitting tape. I thought I was pretty good until, about the 
same time, in a speed contest at the old Pennsylvania Hotel 
with Joe Chaplin I quit at 52 wpm, sat there and watched Joe 
copy 65 wpm for 15 minutes. It was then that I decided that 
there were others better'n I, 


I have seen Joe, with the phones on one ear, using a homemade 
touch system, copy ten-letter code and talk Brooklyn Dodgers 
baseball with a guy sitting alongside of him. He left RCA 

to go with Press Wireless. 


This 


S/ Dave Higginbotham - 4095-SGP 
Highbrook Road 


Bar Harbor, Maine 04609 
Editor's Note: 
Member Higginbotham, at 85 years of age reports he lost the 
sight of one eye a couple years ago — still does not use 
glasses. Other eye must be pretty good but has hard time 
reading the fine print, 


Realm of the Sea 


Beyond the brine of the bridge's mist, 

Far from the fog-bound fettered side, 

Is the sailor's strand where the salt has kissed 
The wind and the weather, the waves and the tide. 


by Viola Jacobson Berg 


Cet Seen Se aa Jaa Joa See Jae Sea Sen Seat Jeet Jeet Jaa Sea See Teen Teen Jon Joa. Joa, Jeg Seer Yee eee Seat Teas ee TE Tee Ta 7 5X15) v 


EDITOR — SPARKS JOURNAL 


This is in reply to the letter in the April 1984 issue of 
Sparks Journal from M, R. Peters - 3847-P, wherein he chal- 
lenges Ted McElroy's claim to be the world's fastest code 
reader. 


The Candler System ad in one of my old copies of "The Radio 
Amateur's Handbook" states that McElroy won the Asheville 
code tournament at a speed of 75,2 words per minute. It does 
not however specify the date of said tournament nor the con- 
trol conditions thereof, 


Nor does Mr. Peters specify the dates or control conditions 
under which messrs. Pettit and Magarris demonstrated solid 
copy of one hundred word per minute code. 


On May 7, 1984 right here in Kelowna I was typing solid copy 
of one thousand word per minute code being sent to me on a 
hand key by another local Ham. 


Unfortunately the old manual typewriter which I was using 
at the time was unable to keep pace with such incredible 
speed and it broke down as did the hand key. 


In case you don't believe me, I still have the broken type- 
writer and hand key to prove it. 


Respectfully, 

Norman A. MacLeod - 2627-V 
VE7EGI 

415 El Carlo Road 

Kelowna, BC VIX 2R5 


Tempus Fugit 


Some years ago two men, 
strangers to each other, were 
sitting together on a subway 
seat. One of the men was read- 
ing a newspaper, on the front 
page of which was a large 
photo of Albert Eistein with 
a story about his discovery of 
the theory of relativity. The 
other man was twisting hin- 
self in curiosity so that his 
head was almost in front of 
the first man's, who patiently 
allowed this oafish liberty for a minute or two. Then 
he quietly pushed the paper over to the other. 


"Here, you might as well read it more comfortably," 
he said, 


"No,no!" the second man protested, suddenly realiz- 
ing he had become a nuisance, "I was just wondering who 
that guy with the wild hair could be to get such a big 
Splash in the paper.” 


"Oh,you don't know? That's the great Albert Einstein." 


"So? What did he do to get his mug all over the front 
page?" 
The first man realized he had an ignoramus to deal 


with, "He discovered the wonderful theory of relativity, 
that's what." 


"Rela-what?" 
"Relativity." 
"What's that, anyway?" 


The first man thought for a moment. How could he 
explain relativity to this simpleton? "Well," he said, 
"It's like this: Suppose you're kissing a beautiful 
girl,- the time goes by like lightning, isn't that so?" 


"Sure," the second man said, licking his chops. 


"But then suppose the girl pushes your naked behind 
up against a red hot stove,- then a second seems like 
an hour, doesn't it?" 


"That's for sure." 
"So you see, it's all a matter of relativity." 


The second man looked puzzled. Then he said slowly, 
"From such foolishness a man makes a living?" 


-00000. 
This story was a favorite of Eistein's which he was 


fond of telling about himself. 


Back to Index 


fami SPARKS JOURNAL 7-2 Am 


~ 


YESTERYEARS 


Editor — SPARKS JOURNAL 


The writer is an old-time radio operator, dating back to 

the 1914-15 days of loose-couplers and galena/cat-whisker de- 
tectors. My actual career began in the Navy, on the U.S.S. 
Elcano, Yangtze River, 1922, I wasa good friend of Karl H.W, 
Baarslag back in the old glory yachting days of the late 20's 
and early 30's. We all lost a fine and historic character 
when he passed on. 


I was much interested in the article "I remember Station WSC" 
by Jan Noordegraaf which appeared on Pages 26 and 27 of the 
Sparks Journal for April 1984. However there are a few errors, 
which I will try to correct. One thing sure, WSC was always 

a high-class radio station, with fine and very competent oper- 
ators. We used to "work" him all up and down the East Coast 
with a great deal of pleasure. Of course local Baltimore 
traffic was handled by WMH. In the N.Y. harbor area there 
were WNY (RCA) and WSF (MACKAY). 


I had been working on the S.S. PONCE (KGP) from Xmas 1927, 
through most of 1928. This was for the Porto Rico S.S, Co., 
which also owned the Coamo (WTA), the San LOrenzo (KEZ) and 
the San Juan (KGJ). They had chartered the S.S. Huron from 
the Clyde Line, to cover Santo Domingo ports. On Nov. 8, 1928, 
I left Hamilton Ave., Brooklyn bound for Montecristi, Domin- 
ican Republic. Since we carried a large crew and quite a few 
passengers, there were two operators — of which I was Senior. 
We had scheduled stops, besides Montecristi, at Puerto Plata, 
La Romana, San Pedro de Macoris, Santo Domingo City, Azua and 
Barahona. Of course these varied with passenger and cargo 
requirements. 


My recollection is that I heard the SOS of the Vestris, and 

informed the Skipper (Master) about it. However he told me 

that we were too far away to render any assistance. On the 

following day, however, we picked up three men clinging to a 
dismasted fishing schooner. This was another victim of the 

storm that claimed the Vestris. 


In the investigation which resulted from the Vestris disaster, 
it was found that there was a freighter, the Montoso, only 

a few miles from the Vestris when she sank. However the Mon- 
toso carried no radio operator, which were only required at 
that time on ships having passengers. As a result of the in- 
quiry, a law was passed compelling all vessels to carry at 
least one radio operator as long as the number of persons on 
board did not exceed 49. Above that, two or three had to be 
carried. Also the Auto-Alarm was developed, to alert off- 
duty operators in case of nearby distress calls. 

The Vestris radio call of HWNK is easily explained. On Jan.1l, 
1929, all radio ship calls were changed from 3 to 4 letters, 
HWNK is just the projected Vestris call for 1929, which the 
Vestris did not live to use. In my own case, I sailed on the 
Huron on Nov. 8, 1928 with a radio call of KVH, When I re- 
turned from Santo Domingo on Jan. 10, 1929, I was amazed to 
have a new radio call of WADQ ! 


Thank you for the fine work you are doing with the Sparks 
Journal. It is much appreciated. 


73 


$/Frederick Cornman "CO" 
6218 Rte 414 
Valois, New York 14888 


~ 17 HAS BEEN MOVED AND SeConpEP 

THAT We TURN OVER THe Ship To THE 
Wiis OPEATOR AND Ger THe Har oFF 
OF THIS SHIP! 


Digital Media © K2TQN 2012 


HAVE TO DO WITH COMMUNICATIONS ? " 


East Coast Nostalgia 


PHILLIP H.ELLIS 2203 V 


Editor, Sparks Journal: 


"I sailed the Atlantic a bit after "Eastcoaster" 
George Wilkins, having put in just under three years 
beginning a bit before WWII ended, There were 

very distinctive coast station sounds that I could 
never imagine how the effect was created. Is there 
anyone that knows? 


The North Atlantic rock crusher was GLD, Land's End, 
running, as I recall, 350 kw, which was a lot for 
tube transmitters in those days. The nearest imi- 
tation of that sound must be the horn of a Model T 
Ford. The modulation frequencies must have been 
subaudible, since you couldn't hear the gurgling 
sound with the BFO off, and may have been more FM 
than AM. I always wished I had a 'scope to see what 
the detected audio looked like. The keying also ha 
a slow rise and a long tail that just seemed tovfade 
away after the transmission. 


On the other side was WAG, Thomaston, Maine. This 
signal seemed to have multi-tone modulation that 
came on with a delay. The transmissions began with 
"shave and a haircut" beginning in CW with the mod- 
ulation coming on during the "hair". The tone 
sounded like a bass chord on an accordion." 


Greetings from Long Island 
BY~ ROD WARE 


Dear Sparks:. .. . . ».Greetings from Long Island. 


The de Forest Edition was a great issue, incident- 
ally. 


Speaking of de Forest's audion, my first ship, SS 
Sucarseco, KUPB, in 1928 had a 2KW spark xtr and a 
single detector-tube receiver with no spare. In 
case the detector-tube blew, there was a galena 
crystal and a "cat whisker", 


The second night out, from Port Newark, N. J., for 
San Juan, we had a collision off Cape Henry. I 
forgot about being sea-sick and hoped the audion 
wouldn't blow; it didn't. Other ship stove in her 
bow and had to return to Norfolk. Sucarseco just 
had a big vertical crease on starboard side just aft 
of midships. We had a cargo of iron pipe and could 
have sunk fast but we were making no water. 


We had a hull survey at Colon and went on for re- 
pairs at Oakland, California where I ert 
bought, with my own money, a spare detector ( a 200A, 
I think ) and a two-stage audio amplifier and loud 
speaker. . .. . the latter to free me of the head- 
phones in case I had to move around the shack. 


On the way back we had a cargo and deck-load of lum- 
ber from Aberdeen, Washington ( or Oregon? ) and 
were probably unsinkable, but the steam condenser 
sprang a leak ( maybe from the collision ) so we 
floated around off California for a few hours while 
the engineers took the condenser apart, found the 
offending tube, plugged it with a wooden plug at 
each end and started up again. Back in Port Newark, 
I thought I'd change ships. 

Yours, Rod Ware - 2074-P 


Back to Index. 


Bre SPARKS JOURNAL 7-2 


Lost in the South Pacific 


HERBERT J SCOTT 


At one time in my seagoing days, I was the radio operator 

on a Norwegian tramp freighter, the only non-Norwegian aboard. 
As you know, a tramp freighter is a nomad of the sea, wandering 
over the oceans of the world from one port to another as the 
cargo loaded at the last port of call dictates, 


We were on our way from Calcutta to New Orleans with a cargo 

of jute, and we had just arrived at the intersection of the 
equator and the 180th meridian. It was here that we encountered 
the one combination of elements most feared by sailers on the 
high seas. 


It happened, unfortunately for us, that a simoon, a typhoon, 
and a monsoon collided head on, and in so doing, produced the 
most terrifying of all tropical storms, a six-sided revolving 
twister known as a hexacyclic tornado! 


— 


Soon we were in the midst of water spouts like trees in a forest, / 


and we were unmercifully bombarded by nature's artillery of hail 
stones almost the size of bowling balls. 


The gigantic seas nearly tore the ship asunder. At one moment 
we were propelled like a cannon ball to the terrifying heights 
of the crest of a wave, and the next moment, with a sickening 
rush like a ride on a roller coaster, we would plunge into the 
abysmal depths of the trough between two waves. This continued 
for three days and four nights. 


Finally we emerged into calmer seas and sunshine, and could 

now assess our damage. The raging sea had washed overboard, 
along with many other things, our binnacle, our chronometer, 

and our hydrometer. The only navigational instruments remaining 
aboard were a jackass quadrant, a nadir, and a table of spheri- 
cal trigonometric coordinates. 


Having been blown far off course by this terrifying storm, and 
being badly in need of fresh water, we headed for a small island 
just visible, low down on the horizon. We dropped anchor in the 
most beautiful lagoon. 


The water of the lagoon was a marvelous blue, and myriads of 
colorful tropical fish could be seen swimming around. 


During our exploration of the island, we found not only fresh 
water in great abundance, but also some of the most unusual 
flora and fauna, the likes of which seemed to exist nowhere else 
in the world. 


There were a large number of most unusual birds. The skipper, 
an excellent amateur naturalist, classified them as pyramido 
bioptic sea parrots, an odd but thoroughly descriptive name. 


The term 'pyromido' comes from the fact that its eggs are shaped 
like a pyramid, rather than being of conventional ovate form; 
and ‘bioptic' because its eyes, instead of being oneither side 
of its head, were placed one in front and one in back. 


Because of this positioning of its eyes, its natural enemies 
are unable to sneak up behind it undetected. Also, while in 
flight, the pyramido-byoptic sea parrot can, by the simple ex- 
pedient of closing its front eye and opening its back one, see 
where it has been, and then, by reversing the process, can look 
where it is going. 


Amongst the flora on the island was the Pinaya tree, the fruit 
of which was a cross between a pineapple and a papaya. There 
was also a great abundance of bread fruit trees, just loaded 
with wonderful loaves waiting to be picked, 


The time came much too soon to leave this enchanting island 
paradise, and finally on a Saturday morning, on the 3ist of 
November, 1921, we upped anchor and sailed out of the lagoon. 


The remainder of the trip was without incident and, in due 
time, we passed through the Panama Canal, continued through 
the Caribbean to New Orleans, and unloaded our cargo, then, 
with the storm damage repaired, we loaded a cargo for our next 
port of call. ... 


S= i‘ 
*WE Do The GENERBTING FoR THe WIRELESS 
RCOM " 


: 
: 
| 
| 
| 
| 


: 
i 


Digital Media © K2TQN 2012 


B\ | vag 
Sd Oe y; tps 


A 


Two Million People 


in Ten Years 
LMOST two million people crossed the 


ocean on our ships in the past ten years; 
crossed the wide seas in supreme comfort, 
mingled pleasantly with pleasant people— 
met courtesy and friendliness all the way. 


Ours is a vast service—but human. A ser- 
vice that understands the traveler’s every 
whim—and meets it. A service that has pro- 
vided the best of ocean travel for more than 
half a century. 


_ 
~ 


ATLANTIC TRANSPORT LINE-RED STAR LINE 


INTERNATIONAL MERCANTILE MARINE COMPAN'T 
No. 1 Broadway, New York; 127 So. State Se., Chicago; 460 Market St., San Franctscor 
our offices e , or any authorized steamship agent. 


i 


S.S. MAJESTIC - Formerly the German Liner Bismark, launched in 1914 
with quadruple screw and turbine made 24 knots. She was ceded to 
the British Government as war reparation and puchased by White Star 
in 1921 where she was refurbished and renamed the SS Majestic in 
1922 and placed on the Southamption-New York run in May. She was 
transferred to Cunard—White Star in 1934 and sold to the British Admir- 
alty in 1936. Converted to a boy's training ship, she was renamed 
HMS CALEDONIA. She was gutted by fire and sank at Rosyth, Eng. 
Sept. 29 1939. RAefloated and towed to Inverkeithing for demolition in 
1943. During the ‘halcyon days of travel' of the late ‘twenties and 
early thirties' the White Star and United States Lines carried on a 
running quarrel for years over whether the Majestic or the American 
Leviathan was the largest ship in the world. : 

[This circular was published circa 1929]. 


NAVY BLUES [*] 
By — Lisa Craig 


Sailing the Seven Seas 
just a sailor not on leave, » 
Came from so far away <= 
Miss home I'm lonely; | ie 
Just have those Navy Blues 
waiting for happy news 
But my big ship sits and waits for me 
in my little sailor town by-the-sea. 


Waiting at Bremerton's ferry dock 
for Seattle at six o'clock, 

Have a blind date at the Space Needle — 
-what will be awaiting me ? 

My paycheck's come and gone, 
It's Navy beans by the ton ! 

But my big ship sits and waits for me 
in my little sailor town by-the-sea. 


[ * Sing to Santa Lucia melody | 


Digital Media © K2TQN 2012 


Back to Index 


gms SPARKS JOURNAL 7-2 7 BLUE PETER EDITION gens 


A Radio Officer's Strange Experience on the Tanker Sealube 


In those days almost anybody could ship out on a 
freighter or a tanker - as long as he wasn't an 
obvious cripple - or female. The time wasn't too far 
removed from the somewhat earlier days of impressing 
and shanghaiing drunks and drug sleepers. If you got 
aboard a ship that was shy a few hands, momentarily 
on the point of sailing, you were signed on, or made 
your (x) mark, and nobody asked too many questions. 


That was how Lord Liggett came to be a messboy - 
although he wasn't a boy - in the tanker SS SEALUBE. 
If Captain Gardner noticed Lord Liggett's yellowish 
pallor and the dark rings under his eyes he dismissed 
it as the symptoms of a recent binge. The man spoke 
clearly and coherently, if a bit softly, and he 
appeared Quite sober. True enough, he looked under- 
nourished and on the frail side. Washing pots and 
dishes would be about the heaviest work he would be 
called upon to do and, anyway, there wasn't time to 
go hunting ashore for a more suitable candidate. 


During the several days after the SEALUBE left 
its berth at Marcus Hook, Liggett went about his work 
Quietly and as though he had had some previous exper- 
ience at serving the officers' meals, washing up and 
making up the cabins, The few words he spoke, though 
noticeably tinged with something like an Oxford 
accent, were not sufficient to identify him as a 
member of the British peerage, especially to the 
linguistically untrained ears of the SEALUBE'S crew, 
to whom he was pretty much just another "Limey." 


One evening when I, the radio operator, was in 
Third Mate Jim Guffey's small cabin just chewing the 
fat, Liggett passed by the open door after coming out 
of the nearby pantry where he had just finished tidy- 
ing up. He stopped at the door and looked in as 
though waiting for an invitation. The third mate 
gave him a friendly smile. 


"Nice evening for late September, sir," Liggett 
said in a low voice that was almost a whisper. "Are 
you chaps going to be here for a few minutes? There's 
Something I'd like to show you - if you don't mind." 


Guffey nodded and I smiled. Not that the sea 
life was dull — nobody could say that - but any kind 
of diversion was welcome, Liggett disappeared. 


Having spent the first nine years of my young 
life in London, I remarked to Guffey "You know, Jim, 
he reminds me a little of my old man - the way he 
talks, I mean." 


"How so?" 


"Well, sort of high class, but not altogether, as 
though he's been hanging out with low-class types, 


like us. I don't know exactly what it is. My Dad 


is a great admirer of guys like George Bernard Shaw 
and H, G. Wells." 


4 Wireless Drama 


In a few minutes Liggett returned carrying a 
cheap photo album. It had many snapshots and was 
bulging with newspaper clippings. He opened it and 
began explaining the pictures. There was one of 
Liggett, a teenager in a sailor suit, which he said 
was taken at the coronation of King George V in 1911, 
There were many snapshots of Liggett in military 
uniform - British army officer's, during WW-1. There 
was one of him in a wheelchair; the story accompany- 
ing it alleged that he had been badly gassed and was 
convalescing at a base hospital in England. The 
hospital in the background looked more like a baron- 
ial mansion with a vast sweep of manicured grounds, 


The newspaper clippings attested to the fact 
that he had served not only in the British Army but 
in the Royal Navy; also in the U.S.Ammy and Navy, and 
that he had been gassed more than once and wounded a 
dozen or more times in combat. One photo displayed 
in a clipping showed Lord Liggett receiving a decor- 
ation from none other than H.R.H. Edward, the Prince 
of Wales (afterwards the abdicated King Edward VIII 
who married Mrs Simpson), and there were other test- 
imonies of his being decorated on various 
occasions, 


Liggett became animated while he was giving this 
exposition. At first Guffey and I were incredulous 
but there was no escaping the printed proofs. Lord 
Liggett went on to say that he had recently lost his 
"pater" who had left him 25,000 pounds and that he 
was receiving an income of 2500 pounds a year from 
his peerage; also more than $90 a month from the 
British government as a pension, That alone was 
almost three times his pay as a messman on the SEA- 
LUBE, He added that he owned some Florida land near 
Miami with a house which he visited from time to time 
on the occasions of which, as two or three of the 
clippings showed, he was written up in the society 
columns of the local papers - as being “entertained 
by the best people." 


As he piled it on, the story became more and 
more incredible, yet there it was in black and white. 


"Why are you working as a messman?" Guffey asked 
him, "when you could be living it up like a bigwig?" 


To which Lord Liggett replied simply "I like the 
sea," 


"But why the cheapest job on the ship?" 


"I don't know. I don't mind it, really. I've 
been a steward on Lake steamers as well as on ocean 
Ships. It's light work and I like to make myself 
useful." 


Back to Index 


ge SPARKS JOURNAL 7-2 


“Stranger than fiction!” 


"If you'll excuse my Saying so," Guffey said, 
"all this sounds a little fishy. What about your 
family? Don't you have any folks?" 


"Oh," Ligget replied quickly, "I have a great 
many people - but they don't know where I am or what 
I'm doing. They would no doubt be greatly shocked to 
know I'm a menial on an oil tanker. They think I'm 
on a holiday and I don't want to see anybody." He 
chuckled a little. "I don’t want to be a hermit. The 
life of a wealthy recluse is not for me. I like to be 
among people - real people - not, as you Americans 
Say, stuffed shirts; the kind who always go about 
with their noses in the air as though there's a bad 
smell, if you know what I mean. Ever since my army 
days I've found that what my relations would call the 
lower classes are apt to be just as intelligent as 
the nobs - or p'raps more so, More interesting, too. 
And the girls are prettier as well. People who gad 
about - have nothing useful in the world to do have 
no = well, no perspective on things. They've no idea 
what the struggle for existence is all about. They 
just exist - spend their lives aimlessly. They even 
make love as though it's a boring and tiresome duty." 


Jim and I couldn't help smiling as we listened 
to this astonishing speech. Nevertheless we couldn't 
help being impressed, eSpecially by the stuff in the 
scrapbook. I think Liggett was trying to bid for our 
companionship rather than trying to show off. It is 
possible that his speech and shreds of aristocratic 
bearing may have given his crewmates the impression 
that he was a bit effeminate. Yet the clippings and 
photos were surely a convincing testimony to his 
manhood. 


Lord Ligget took himself off presently when he 
thought he had sufficiently impressed Jim and me. 


“What do you think?" Guffey said. "Is he a 
phony or not?" 


"I don't know what to think. The stuff looks 
right enough." 


"That's for sure, But I'll tell you one thing, 
Sparks. Now that I was able to get a really close 
look, he didn't seem too healthy." 


"Well," I commented, "if all those pictures and 
clippings are for real, there's no doubt he's been 
through a lot." 


"Yeah, that would account for something all 
right. But if he's got some disease he’s got no 
business being on an old hooker like the SEALUBE, 
hundreds of miles from a doctor, especially with all 
the moolah he claims he has. What would happen if he 
suddenly was to come down with an attack of - what- 
ever it is?" 


"In that case we would get medical advice by 
radio." 


"Yeah, but that's not the same as having a doc 
look at you." 


"No, Dut it works pretty well as second best." 


Bee Night Lunch = —— 


Digital Media © K2TQN 2012 


BLUE PETER EDITION sr 


THE WHEEL’S OUTA 
\ THE WATER AGAIN” 


The skipper appeared at the radio shack on the 
morning after that appearance of Liggett. "Sparks, 
I have some bad news. His Lordship is very ill to- 
day. I think you had better see if you can get some 
medical advice: here, I've written out a message 
with the details." 


The message said that Liggett was complaining 
of violent cramps and had a fever of 102.3°. He was 
unable to leave his bunk. The Skipper gave it a 
name: cholera morbus. Maybe so. 


The Naval coast station at Moorhead City, N.C. 
said they had no regular doctor on duty. They 
advised us to call the Coast Guard cutter YAMACRAW 
which was patrolling the area. She was about 250 
miles northwest of us. Liggett himself thought he 
had appendicitis. 


After exchanging several messages with the CG 
YAMACRAW (while Capt, Gardner got a bit of exercise 
running up and down between the fo'cstle and the 
radio shack; he probed and squeezed the patient's 
belly), appendicitis was ruled out - and so was 
cholera morbus. We had no way of doing a blood count, 
which was suggested. Two of the major symptoms 
which caught the YAMACRAW'S medical man's attention 
and gave a clue was the statement that Liggett's 
urine was cloudy and his skin was a sort of yellow 
color. In response I got this message: 


TAKE A SPECIMEN OF URINE AND PUT IT IN A TEST TUBE 
AND HEAT IT OVER A BURNER AND THEN REPORT WHAT HAP- 
PENS. 


Test tube? Burner? The doctor must have 
pictured the old rusty SEALUBE with a nice shiny 
clinical laboratory aboard. Well, what to do? 


By this time a group of off-duty crewmen were 
trying to crowd into the radio shack. The chief 
engineer pushed forward when he heard the skipper 
read the words about a test tube and a burner. 


"Hey, wait!" he said. "I have some small glass 
vials with oil samples. I'll go below and clean out 
a few with naphtha ~- maybe we can use them? 

"And what about a burner?" 


Another voice said "What about a candle, or 
even matches?" 

Well, that's the way the "clinical test" was 
done, Liggett was asked to urinate into a clean 
bucket. We didn't have any utensil that more closely 
resembled a hospital urinal, and he said he was too 
(Continued on Page 20) 


Back to Index 


Deep Sea 


Doctoring 


@ 


weak to get out of his bunk. It was a messy job of 
decanting some of the turbid and foul-smelling urine 
into those tiny vials. The chief volunteered, He did 
it competently enough with a grimace and with the aid 
of a flashlight held by one of the seamen. A candle 
was produced and, as per instructions, heat was ap- 
plied to one of the vials. A hush fell over the on- 
lookers as though they were watching the crisis of a 
gripping play. 


"Good grief!" the chief yelled as the vial 
cracked and spilled the contents on his hand. But he 
Quickly recovered and wiped it off with a piece of 
cotton waste. Then he took a second vial, this time 
bringing the candle to bear more cautiously. 


Presto! The thin mist dramatically turned heavy, 
even thick. The chief wiped off the soot with his 
cotton waste and held it up to the flashlight. The 
"experiment" was repeated with a third vial with the 
Same result, Each time there was a chorus from the 
audience, just as though they were watching a tense 
baseball game and a player had hit one over the fence. 
The skipper reported the results to me and I called 
the YAMACRAW, I was told to stand by for further 
advice, In a few minutes the message came back: 


PATIENT SUFFERING FROM ACUTE STAGE OF CHRONIC NEPH- 
RITIS PROBABLY WITH SOME LIVER INVOLVEMENT STOP NOT 
APPENDICITIS STOP URINE TURBIDITY IS UNDIGESTED 
ALBUMIN SHOWS KIDNEYS NOT FUNCTIONING NORMALLY STOP 
CANNOT PRESCRIBE TREATMENT WITHOUT SEEING PATIENT 
WHICH NOT POSSIBLE STOP URGE YOU HEAD IN TOWARD JACK- 
SONVILLE AT ONCE WHERE NAVY WILL ARRANGE TRANSFER TO 
HOSPITAL STOP WE WILL NOTIFY PROPER AUTHORITIES WHEN 
WE KNOW YOUR ETA AT ST JOHNS RIVER STOP PLEASE KEEP 
US INFORMED SIG R A MILLER MD USCG 


I handed this to Capt, Gardner who read it and 
Scratched his head. "Well, it's going to delay us a 
bit but I guess it can't be helped." He went into 
the chart room and did some plotting, then ordered a 
change of course. He also scribbled a message to be 
sent to the ship's agents, also one for Dr Miller. 
The ETA at St John's River was given as 25 hours from 
the present time and as the ship's normal speed was 
11-12 knots it meant we were about 300 miles from 
Jacksonville, What looks like a nice short, straight 
line on a maritime chart turns out to be a slow pain- 
ful crawl in this case, 


I sent the messages without delay, the one to 
the YAMACRAW first, 

Liggett suffered more than ever during that day. 
In the absence of any advice about medication the 
skipper was opposed to giving Liggett anything from 
the ship's meager medicine chest. Somebody suggested 
booze, There was a bottle of Jamaica rum in a locked 
cabinet, a standard but somewhat discredited remedy 
for pain. The skipper vetoed that idea. "With his 
liver and kidneys in bad shape, liquor might do him 
in for sure." He pored over the only medical book on 
the ship, & volume dated fifty years earlier; it was 
no help. The entire crew seemed to be suffering in 
Sympathy. 


At the messtable the chief said he was putting 
all the steam he safely could on the old hooker. The 
Skipper responded by saying he was glad the weather 
was favorable. Nevertheless there was a general 
feeling that Liggett could die but no one actually 
mentioned that possibility. The sick man's groans 
and occasional screams could be heard all over the 
Ship, adding to the general tension, The SEALUBE 


Digital Media © K2TQN 2012 


BLUE PETER EDITION faz 


gallantly cut through the sea at a steady pace, I was 
sure I could detect the abnormal laboring of the 
turbines which were directly beneath my quarters. 

At the next noon reckening it was seen that we were 
doing a shade better than 12 knots which would bring 
us to the north Florida point late that afternoon, 


"Are you still in touch with the YAMACRAW?" the 
skipper asked me. I replied that I was. "Tell them 
we'll arrive at rivermouth close to six p.m., 75th 
Meridian time," 


It took a couple of calls for me to raise the 
cutter, Then NRY responded loud and clear, I gave 
them the captain's message. 


DO NOT ANCHOR STOP A NAVY LAUNCH WITH MEDICS AND 
EQUIPMENT WILL COME OUT TO MEET YOU STOP HOIST A RED 
FLAG IF BY DAYLIGHT OR A RED LIGHT AFTER DARK 


The reckoning was very close. When I heard the 
engine-room telegraph signal STOP ENGINES my clock 
said 5:53 p.m. It was still daylight. I stayed at my 
post in case I should be needed for further communic- 
ation, Glancing outside I saw the red flag - also a 
red lantern high up on the foremast halyard, And sure 
enough, right on schedule I heard the putt-putt of a 
launch, A line was thrown to it, fenders and a jack- 
ladder were lowered over the side as the boat came 
alongside in smart Navy style. Several uniformed men 
swarmed up the ladder in close order and a rigid 
stretcher was hoisted up. The leader, a CPO, was sal- 
uted by Capt. Gardner and immediately conducted to the 
sick man's bunk in the after quarters, Liggett was 
moaning dismally. His strength seemed to be ebbing 
fast and he looked awful. The Navy men placed him 
gently in the stretcher; he seemed to be unaware of 
what was happening. The movements of the medics were 
swift and expert. Wrapped in a Navy blanket and 
strapped in, they carried him to the side where he was 
lowered without bumping into the launch, which almost 
on the instant pushed off and was speeding shoreward. 
Within a few minutes the SEALUBE was on her way too. 


Some months later the charter with the Sun 0il 
Company was completed, The SEALUBE, small in compar- 
ison with the newer tankers, was sold to a British 
company to molasses as her shallower draft 
allowed her to touch at out-of-the-way places in the 
West Indies, Consequently the entire crew including 
Captain Gardner were laid off. I went back to New 
York.and was soon assigned to another ship, the 
new Socony tanker SS DIXIE ARROW. By a happy coinci- 
eet Jim Guffey was second mate, We had a cordial 
reunion. 


"I suppose you heard about Lord Liggett?" He 
asked when we had an opportunity to talk. 


"Don't tell me," I said, "He kicked the bucket, 
poor guy." 

"Wrong! I heard through a Navy friend of mine 
that he made a miraculous recovery and went to live 
with the blue-bloods in Miami after he got out of the 
hospital. He went around telling everybody that we 
saved his life." 


"We?" 
"The crew of the SEALUBE." 


Well, I Suppose we did. But it was not more ner 
less than our human duty. What really saved his life 
was the radio. 

- Fred Rosebury 1570-SGP 


Digital Media © K2TQN 2012 


Back to Index. 


Sami SPARKS JOURNAL 7-2 


How Wireless Has Served the Sea 


BLUE PETER EDITION gre 


SPECIAL NOTICE: 
—_—_— 


tions of Pages 21 and 22 and then continue on 
‘the bottom sections. These are reprinted from Wireless Age Apr.1916. 


up and down the coast, managed finally 
to reach the place of the disaster and 
rescue the men and women on the dis- 
abled Dimock. 

_ The wireless next served its purpose 
in the rescue of endangered passengers 
on the steamship Ohio, which was 
rammed and sunk by a craft off the 
Alaskan coast on August 27, Vessels 
which responded to her calls for help 
saved 200 lives, 

Lowering 
fogs, through 
which the 
helmsman 
guides the ship's 
uncertain way, 
are the most 
prolific causes 
of collisions, as 
can be seen in 
this summary of such events. The 
siren's voice is deadened and the location 
of the oncoming vessel is rendered uncer- 
tain by the ocean haze. It is the wire- 
less only that can bring help to the 
stricken ships. Such ‘was the case 
with the steamer Merida, of the Ward 
Line, which, on May 12, 1911, while 
off the Virginia Capes in a heavy fog- 
bank, bound for New York from Vera 
Cruz.and Havana, was struck midships 
by the Admiral Farragut, on her way 
from Philadelphia to Jamaica. The 
wireless distress call was launched, 
and responded to by the steamship 
Hamilton, to which vessel all persons 
on board the two colliding ships were 
transferred before the Merida sank. 
The Admiral Farragut was helplessly 
disabled. 

Next occurred the greatest marine 
disaster in world’s history, when the 
Titanic, the largest passenger liner of 
her time, on April 15, 1912, came into 
collision with an iceberg and went to 
the bottom of the Atlantic, carrying 
with her nearly 1,400 lives. More than 
half that number of persons were 
saved, however, through the steadfast 
courage and self-sacrifice of the Mar- 
coni wireless operators, Phillips, the 
senior, and Harold Bride, his assist- 
ant. 

Bride described the scence in the wire- 
less room of the Titanic as follows: 


the boat, Kuehn missed his footing and 
fell into the water. He managed to keep 
afloat for a while, during which time ef- 
forts were made to rescue him, but the 
water was too cold and he finally sank, 
after having given up his life to save an- 


other. The Monroe sank ten minutes 
after the collision. Forty-three lives 
were lost and ninety-eight persons 


rescued as a result of the help that ar- 
rived in answer to the distress call, 

Again this lesson 
of courage and strict 
attention to duty was 
heralded to the world, 
several months later, 
when two wireless tel- 
egraphers or a sink- 
ing liner, at the risk 
of their lives, sped 
the message of disaster to the nearest 
shore. The Empress of Ireland, bound 
for Liverpool, had left Montreal on 
May 27 in a thick fog. When in the 
St. Lawrence River, 150 miles from 
Quebec and ten miles from Rimouski, 
she came into collision with the Danish 
collier Storstad, with fifty men aboard, 
feeling her way through the fog, in- 
ward bound. The collier crashed into 
the liner and tore her side open to the 
stern. The two Marconi operators on 
board the Empress were Ronald Fer- 
guson, senior, and Edward Bamford, 
his assistant, While the vessel began 
to list, the operators quickly sent out 
the S O S, reaching the land opera- 
tor at Father Point. Then the lights 
went out aboard the Empress, she 
careened and sank. 

Meantime, the operator at Father 
Point sent word to the Canadian gov- 
ernment boats Eurcka and Lady Eve- 
Ivn, which steamed to the scene of the 
disaster, They found 452 survivors in 
the lifeboats of the Empress, among 
whom were the two operators, The 
death list of the disaster was placed at 
1,024, and the prompt work of the Mar- 
coni operators undoubtedly served to 
save those who were rescued from the 
foundered vessel. 

On the morning of August 25, of the 
same year, the steamship Admiral 
Sampson, owned by the Pacific Alaska 
Navigation Company, was feeling her 


“Phillips and I were in the room. 

‘Send a call for assistance,’ ordered the 

rr barely putting his head in the 
oor. 

‘What shall I send? asked Phillips, 

““The regulation international call 
for help, Just that,’ was the reply. 

“Phillips began to read C Q D, 
‘Send S O S, 1 said. ‘It's the new 
call, and it may be your last chance to 
send it.’ 

“We picked up first the steamship 
Frankfurt. The thia answered 
then, and we told her our position and 
said we were sinking by the head. 
Phillips told me the wireless was grow- 
ing weaker. The Captain came and 
told us our engine rooms were taking 
water and that the dynamos might not 
last much longer. We sent that word 
to the Carpathia. 

“How poor Phillips worked through 
it I don’t know. He was a brave man. 
We picked up the Olympic and told 
her we were sinking by the head. As 
Phillips was sending the message I 
strapped his life belt to his back. Then 
came the Captain’s voice: ‘Men, you 
have done your full duty. You can do 
no more. Abandon your cabin. Now 
it’s every man for himself.’ Phillips 
clung on, sending and sending. He 
clung on for 
about ten min- 
utes or maybe 
fifteen minutes 
after the Cap- 
tain had re- 
leased him. 
Water was then 
coming into our cabin. Phillips ran 
aft, and that’s the last I ever saw of 
him alive.” 

Bride was washed off the foundering 
vessel, swam to the surface and was 
pulled aboard a boat and saved. His 
senior went with the other souls to the 
bottom, 

Another scene of this ocean drama is 
related by Howard Thomas Cottam, 
wireless operator aboard the Carpathia, 
the ship of rescue: 

“I got the Titanic C Q D call at 
11:20 o'clock on Sunday night. It was 
this: ‘Came at ance. We've struck a 
berg. It's a C QO D call, old man.” 


Se ee ee ee ee ee ee ee 1 


way carefully along her course, off 
Point-no-Point, near Seattle, Wash. 
The greater number of the passengers 
were asleep in their berths, but some 
of them, aroused by the siren, had come 
on deck. The Princess Victoria, of the 
Canadian Pacific Line, was also mak- 
ing her way through the fog in much 
the same cautious manner as the Samp- 
son. Fog whistles on both vessels 
sounded continuously, but the thick 
mist blanketed the warnings. The Vic- 
toria rammed the Sampson, a steel ves- 
sel, directly on a line with the after 
hatch, cut three-fourths of the way 
through her, and opened a twelve-foot 
gash in her own steel plates, in which 
the cover of the Sampson's hatch wax 
still jammed when the Canadian Pacific 
liner arrived in Seattle with the sur- 
vivors. 

The vessels were so close together 
that the majority of the Sampson's 
passengers were able to climb on board 
the Victoria, The bow of the Victoria 
entered the side of the Sampson at a 
point where a considerable quantity of 
fuel oil was stored and crushed several 
large containers. They were set 
ablaze, and in an instant both vessels 
were enveloped in flames. When the 
Victoria backed away, the Sampson's 
side was left uncovered and she began 
to settle and went to the bottom four 
minutes after she was struck, 

W. E. Reker was 
the senior wireless 
operator on the Samp- 
son, and while the 
vessel was founder- 
ing, he made his way 
to the Captain on the 
bridge, preferring to 
share whatever fate 
overtook his commander rather than seek 
safety by leaving the doomed craft. 
The two men faced death fearlessly in 
the line of their respective duties, and 
were drowned. Not less praiseworthy 
was the conduct of H. F, Wichr, the 
junior Marconi operator. He stayed 
on the Sampson until the last, finally 
being compelled to jump over the side, 
and was picked up by one of the life- 
boats. 

Meantime the wircless operator on 


Then the Titanic operator followed 
with his position, which was latitude 
41:46 north and longitude 50:14 west. 
I think I received the C Q D seven 
to ten minutes after the Titanic struck, 
It was only by a streak of luck that I 
got the message. After hearing the 
Frankfurt, then 1 heard the Olympic 
calling the Titanic with a service mes- 
sage. 

“All this time we were hear- 
ing the Titanic sending her wire- 
Jess out over the sea in a last 
call for help. ‘We are sinking 
fast,’ was one which I picked 
up being sent to the Olympic 
Just before we 
Titanic I got this message, and 
it was the last one I received: ‘Come 
wick, our engine room is flooded up to 
the boilers.’ I answered that our boats 
were ready, and for them to get theirs 
ready also, and that we were doing our 
utmost to get there in time, Until we 
reached the spot where the Titanic 
foundered, I was listening for a spark 
from his emergency set, and when I 
didn’t hear it, I was sure he had gone 
down.” 

Owing to its speed and the vast dis- 
tances it travels, wireless aid is dis- 
tinguished from all other forms of safe- 
guard at sea by the promptness with 
which it communicates the story of 
disaster, and brings rescuers to the 
stricken ship. It was this feature of 
prompt service that saved all the lives 
aboard the steamship Madison, on Feb- 
ruary 22, 1912, when she was rammed 
by the Hippolyte Dumois; and re- 
sulted in the preservation of the El 
Sud in April, of that year, when 
she came into collision with the 
steamship Denver off Galveston 
Bar. The El Sud was not equipped 
with wireless, but, fortunately for 
her, the Denver was, and in re- 


Walter Seddon, 


first operator on 
reached the the Volturno 


by the steamship Persian on July 24, 
1913, resulted in the successful dock- 
ing of the injured ship. A wireless ap- 
peal for assistance brought an equally 
prompt response to the steamship 
Pleiades, in October of the same year, 
when she was struck by an unknown 
steamship off the Pacific coast, A tug- 
boat appeared in answer to the call and 
towed the Pleiades to port in 
safety. There would undoubted- 
ly have been great loss of life in 
an accident which occurred 
ninety-five miles south of Hat: 
teras on November 1, had there 
not been a speedy response to the 
radio call. The steamship Nor- 
wega came into collision with 
the schooner Glenlui, tearing a hole in 
her side of such enormous size that she 
rapidly filled with water. A passenger 
vessel, two revenue cutters and a battle- 
ship were soon at hand and saved all on 
board. 

The fine spirit of devotion that typi- 
fies the Marconi service was next ex- 
emplified by the heroic conduct of a 
wireless operator, who sacrificed his 
life in humanity's cause. It was in a 
heavy fog off Hog Island, sixty miles 
from Cape Charles, on the morning of 
January 30, 1914, that the Old Domin- 
ion Line steamship Monroe came into 
collision with the smaller ship, the Nan- 
tucket, of the Merchants’ and Miners’ 
Transportation Company. Ferdinand J, 
Kuehn, chief wireless operator on the 
Monroe, who was in the operating roam 
when the accident occurred, notified his 
assistant, R. S. Etheridge, and sent the 
SOS call, Etheridge fetched two life 

preservers, and while one was being 
put on by Kuehn, Etheridge con- 
tinued sending out the S O §, piv- 
ing the position of the Monroe 
which was sinking rapidly, 
Etheridge then dashed for a 


sponse to calls sent out by the lat- Christopher lifeboat and was picked up by the 


ter, assistance came and the in- Pennington, Nantucket. 

tecond 
operator On him, 
the Valturno 


jured steamship was towed into 
Galveston. 

Similar promptitude on the part 
of Arthur Ridley, of Ridge Hill, Mass., 
the Marconi operator on the Milhi- 
nocket, in summoning a tug and a 
lighter, when that vessel was struck 


SS Se a 


the Victoria had sent out the S OS 
call, which was picked up at the Mar- 
coni station at Seattle, and established 
communication with the steamship 
Admiral Watson, which came to the 
aid of the injured vessel. 

The steamship Metapan, of the 
United Fruit Company's Line, on Oc- 
tober 15, was rammed in the fog by the 
freighter Iowan, of the Hawaiian- 

American Line, at the en- 

trance of Ambrose Chan- 

nel, New York Harbor, 

and sank. When the col- 

+ lision occurred the wireless 
operator on the Metapan 
sent out a call for assist- 


Ferdinand ° 

J. Kuehn, ance, which was respond- 
wireless ed to by vessels in various 
operator parts of the harbor, and all 
a& ; on board were rescued. 


On January 24 of the 
following year, the Washingtonian, of the 
Hawaiian-American Line, came into col- 
lision with the five-masted schooner 
Elizabeth Palmer, off Delaware Break- 
water. The Washingtonian sank, and 
the schooner was abandoned with her 
decks awash, only one life having been 
lost. Captain E. D. Brodhead, of the 
Washingtonian, ordered the lifeboats 
to be made ready, and into them the 
crew of forty-odd men tumbled. There 
were also thirteen men and one woman 
on the schooncr. All made their way 
safely to a lightship, and wireless mes- 
sages sent from the station there sum- 
moned the steamship Hamilton, of the 
Old Dominion Line, which stopped and 
took aboard the victims of the wrecks, 
and conveyed them to New York. 

But it is not only in the solitude of 
midocean or in the perilous channel 
that the wireless teaches the lesson of 
its superb value. Its service is as ef- 
ficient on the lake or the inland water 
course, This was shown on March 
25. 1915. when the steamship Parisian 
grounded in the Mississippi River. 
While in this position she was struck 
two days later by the Heredia. of the 
United Fruit Company. which had 165 
passengers aboard, Wireless brought 
prompt aid to the two distressed ves- 
sels. | 

On May 26, 1915, the S O S aided 


EEE NOL LNG LE PL GTI B IE BL NSB O) GIS PLN OTT OLS AEN OLE EL NII NG, 


Kuehn was standing 
on deck when a woman ran toward 
“Where is your life preser- 
ver?" he asked. “I have none 
Oh, I am lost,” she cried. Kuehn took 
off the one he wore and fastened it upon 
her. Then he led her to the rail and 
helped her over. Attempting to enter 


in the rescue of 230 passengers who 
were aboard the Holland-American 
liner Ryndam, which was in collision 
with the fruit steamer Joseph J. Cuneo, 
south of the Nantucket Shoals. Water 
poured in torrents into the hole which 
the Cuneo tore in the side of the Ryn- 
dam, and the bows of the fruit steamer 
were stove in, she also taking water 
rapidly, On board the Ryndam were 
two Marconi operators, B. Moore, sen- 
ior, and A. T. A. Le Clercq, his assist- 
ant. They sent out the distress sig- 
nal while the passengers were being 
transferred to the Cuneo, which was 
the least damaged of the two vessels, 
The battleships South Carolina, Texas, 
Louisiana and Michigan responded to 
the call, and the South Carolina took 
aboard the passengers who had sought 
safety on the fruit steamer. No lives 
were lost. 

Even in casualties at sea, where the 
wireless is not the direct means of sav- 
ing life, or ship or cargo, the mere fact 
that the service is at hand, ready for 
immediate use, brings solace and hope 
to those endangered. This is made evi- 
dent in the following list of accidents: 
On June 13 of the same year there was 
a collision between the Metropolitan 
Line steamship Bunker Hill, bound 
from New York to Boston, with 250 
passengers, and the steam yacht of 
C. K. G. Billings, the Vanadis, in a fog 
off Eaton’s Neck, L. I. Two 
persons were killed and sev- 
eral injured as a result of 
the accident. Ingalls and 
Pitts, Marconi operators on 
the Bunker Hill, sent Mar- 


conigrams to New York, Raphael 
giving news of the accident. Emanuel, 
The Bunker Hill returned reper 

. ree 
under her own steam, and operetor 


several vessels which had 
received the wireless message volun: 
teered their aid, which, however, was 
not needed. 

The pilot boat New Jersey was 
rammed and sunk by the United Fruit 
steamer Marchioncal at the castern en- 
trance to Ambrose Channel on July 10, 
1915. The crew was saved by the 
Marchioneal, and S © § calls brought 
assistance, which, again, was not needed. 


(Continued on Page 22) 5 


Hm SPARKS JOURNAL 7-2 


Back to Index 


(Continued trom Page 21) 


The presence of wireless apparatus 
Jent courage and steadiness to those 
aboard the steamship Dorchester, 
when, on May 28, she was rammed 
by the schooner J. A. Palmer, off An- 
napolis, Md., and the aerial message 
was utilized to apprise the world that 
no lives had been lost. And when, on 
June 16, the steamship Alabama was 
struck by the Delaware, fifty-three 
miles south of Scotland Lightship in 
a dense fog, and neither vessel suffered 
scrious damage, wireless was used to 
relieve the anxiety of the owners, Also 
on February 1, 1916, when the Takata 
Maru came into collision with the Sil- 
ver Shell, the fact that the last-named 
vessel had rescued the former's crew 
was sent by wireless to the Marconi 
stations at Boston and Cape Race. 

There is probably no danger that is 
dreaded more by the scaman or the sca 
traveler, than the ship afire. Storms 
may be outlived, and the ship win 
broken propeller blades may drift, but 
flight, as a rule, is the only salvation 
from the burning ship, But the aerial 
message brings aid so swiftly to those 
marooned on flaming vessels of late 
years that the dread of this form of 
calamity has been materially lessened. 

Plying between Panama and Peru- 
vian ports, the steamer Huallaga, of 
the Peruvian Dock & Steamship Com- 
pany, took fire at sca on July 20, 1910, 
off the north coast of Peru. In fight- 
ing the flames, three of her seamen 
perished. Wircless operators flashed 
the S OS _ which was received by the 
steamship Ucayali. Making all haste, 
the rescuing vessel arrived in time to 
take off all the passengers and the re- 
mainder of the crew. Three days later, 
july 23. the Momus, of the Southern 

acific Company, bound from New 
York to New Orleans, took fire south 
of Cape Hatteras, Under the direc- 
tions of Captain Boyd. the crew fought 
the flames for hours, but the fight be- 
coming hopeless, the Captain sum- 
moned aid by means of the wircless, 
The steamship Comus responded to 
the call, not only taking off the pas- 
sengers safely, but assisting in subdu- 
ing the flames. The cargo and vessel, 


sels were saved from destruction by 
the prompt summoning of aid by wire- 
less, The steamship Standard was at 
sea in latitude 22:50 north, longitude 
88:18 west, on May 18, when fire was 
discovered in her oil-fuel bunkers. The 
distress calls brought the steamships 
Bradford, Winifred and Alfonso to the 
scene, They fought and extinguished 
the flames and the Bradford towed the 
disabled vessel into Key West. On 
May 28 the steamer Mackinaw was on 
fire off San Francisco, and wireless 
calls brought tugs to the assistance of 
the burning vessel. 

Alarm occasioned by a fire on board 
the steamship Sucha, on July 22, while 
in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, was em- 
phasized by signals for help sent out 
from the ship and received by the 
Royal George. The latter proceeded 
to the rescuc, but received word later 
that the fire had been controlled and 
help was no longer needed, which 
cheering information was promptly 
sent to shore by wireless, 

Nearly 500 persons, abandoning a 
burning vessel in midocean, were res- 
cued from their distress through the 
beneficent aid of the Marconi wireless 
service on September 11, when the 
Greek liner Athenai, bound from New 
York to Piraeus, caught fire, The ves- 
sel was entirely destroyed. The pas- 
sengers and crew, numbering 470 souls, 
crowded in lifeboats, were rescued by 
the Tuscania and the Koumanian 
Prince. Two days later the lives of 
mde than 1,700 persons were saved 
through the summoning of assistance 
by acrial messages. The Fabre Line 
steamship Sant’ Anna, from New York 
to Naples, was thronged with 1,700 
Italian reservists when she caught fire 
in midocean, The S O S call brought 
the Ancona to the scene. She took 
off 600 persons and convoyed the dis- 
tressed vessel to port, 

On November 1 the  steamsh?p 
Rochambeau sent out wireless calls, 
stating that she was on fire, which were 
immediately answered by nearby ves- 
sels. The ship, however, sent mes- 
sages subsequently, stating that the 
fire was under control and that as- 
sistance was not required. In this in- 


Digital Media © K2TQN 2012 


MLC EE VE EES SOI Sr Ve Ss es Nt Nt, Ns NA ec NE Nt NO DEL, NEE ed ME MR A SA A NSS NIE NEE NEE NERC Se NERS NEES EE AE EEC Es 


Sixteen Years of Triumphant Achievements of an Unerring 
System and a Brave Devotion to Duty 


valued at $3,000,000, were saved. 
Again, on January 25, 1911, the Queen, 
of the Lacific Coast Steamship Com- 
pany, while off Point Reyes, Cal., de- 
veloped fire in her forward hold. The 
distress call brought four steamers to 
her assistance and the crew and eighty- 
seven passengers were saved. 

The year 1913 was one in which there 
occurred an unusual number of fires 
at sca, Never before did the Marconi 
wircless service have a better oppor- 
tunity to prove its utility. On June 
10 of that year, the Olinda, of the Mun- 
son Line, with five passengers aboard, 
caught fire at sca. In response to the 
S O S call, the U. S. S. Nashville 
went to her assistance and took off 
the passengers in safety. Fire started 
on the British steamship Templemore 
on September 29 while she was on a 
voyage from Daltimore to Liverpool, 
Raphael Emanuel, the Marconi opera- 
tor on board, sent out the distress 
signal, which was picked up by the 
steamship Arcadia, fifty miles away. 
While the Areadia was hurrying to the 
burning ship's relief, the Templemore 
was consumed by the flames, 800 miles 
cast of the Virginia Capes. Passengers 
and crew were in the lifeboats when 
the rescuer arrived and took them 
aboard. During October the steam- 
ship Berkshire was burned off Look- 
out Cove, N.C. The S O §S call was 
heard at Wilmington, 164 miles away, 
by the revenue cutter Seminole, which 
reached the scene of disaster in time 
to take off all the passengers. After 
the flames were extinguished the fol- 
lowing day the vessel was towed to a 
safe anchorage. 

Of all the marine disasters of that 
fateful year, the most sensational was 
the burning of the immigrant ship 
Volturno, which was ablaze from stem 
to stern in a terrific storm in the At- 
lantic, 450 miles east of Newfoundland, 
on Thursday, October 9. Wireless 
calls flecting over the ocean, brought 
ten vessels to the rescue, but for more 
than twenty-four hours they were 
compelled to eruise about the flaming 
vessel, incapable of rendering help be 
cause of the fieree wind and turbulent 
sea. It was not until the next morn- 


= oo eo 


stance, as in others, failing in the wire- 
less service, the world would have un- 
dergone anxious days of waiting before 
this cheering news could have reached 
land. 

Another instance occurred, where, 
without the prompt assistance ob- 
tained by wireless, a vessel and her 
cargo would have been a total loss, 
when, on November 9, the steamship 
Lievatta, loaded with cased kerosene 
and gasoline, caught fire sixty-five 
miles east of Sabine Bar, Texas. The 
danger was reported by aerial mes- 
sage to the steamship Gulfstream, 
which arrived and stood by the burn- 
ing ship until other assistance, sum- 
moned by wireless, arrived from Port 
Arthur and Galveston. 

Such is the record to date of the 
value of the Marconi service in lessen- 
ing that dreaded danger of navigation, 
“the ship afire at sea.” 

The aerial message serves unex- 
pected ends. Many an injured seaman 
owes his well being, if not his life, to 
the fact that aid was summoned on his 
behalf from some doctor or surgeon 
hundreds of miles distant, when no 
other help was available. 

While the oil steamer Asuncion was 
off the port of Eureka, Cal., on March 
11, 1909, the Humboldt wireless sta- 
tion received from her a message say- 
ing that one of the sailors had fallen 
from the rigging to the deck, sustain- 
ing injuries resulting in severe internal 
hemorrhages. Medical advice was so- 
licited for the injured man. The wire- 
less station at once communicated with 
the marine physician, Dr. Charles Falk, 
who prescribed treatment. The vessel 
remained hove to until the directions 
of the physician had been reccived by 
wireless, when she proceeded on her 
way, while the remedies presumably 
were applied. 

Captain McGray, of the steamship 
Herman Frasch, was stricken with 
ptomaine poisoning and at the point 
of death, January 2, 1911. A wireless 
message was promptly sent to physi- 
cians of the United States naval sta- 
tion at Dry Tortugas, Florida, about 
100 miles away. The operator of the 
Merida, which was leaving the harbor 


° ° ° ° se J CaS Je. Fa TEN TEN TR JOS SOS TRS TE Cat 7 sOir@, ° * * ° Fe ° * ee 22) 


ing that it was found possible to trans- 
fer passengers, Of the persons aboard, 
521 were rescued. The others, num- 
bering 136 souls, lost their lives in the 
raging seas, which smashed the life- 
boats against the sides of the Volturno 
and spilled their human freight into 
the water. 

The Marconi wireless operators on 
the Volturno were Walter Seddon and 
Christopher Pennington. Pennington 
performed his duties courageously 
while menaced by peril and escaped 
from the vessel by leaping into the sea. 
Seddon was an occupant of the last 
boat that left the doomed craft. 

With seas running so high that it 
was seemingly impossible for small 
craft to live in the waves, 103 pas- 
sengers of the Spanish steamer Balmes, 
which was threatened with destruction 
by flames, were taken from the burn- 
ing vessel by the Pannonia, of the 
Cunard Line, on November 14, after 
aid had been summoned by the Mar- 
coni wireless. The rescue occurred 
600 miles east of Bermuda. While 
Captain Ruiz, of the Balmes, and his 
men battled with the flames, Inocencia 
V. Michavila, senior Marconi opera- 
tor, began sending the S O S. The 
Pannonia was 287 miles distant from 
the burning ship when the call of dis- 
tress was received by the senior Mar- 
coni operator, Stanley G. Rattee. His 
assistant, Edward Murphy, who was 
in the ship’s hospital, crawled from his 
berth to the wireless room to aid his 
comrade in gaining the location of the 
distressed vessel. The Pannonia res- 
cued 125 persons from the burning 
ship. At the time of the rescue the 
crew of the Balmes was reduced to the 
last degree of exhaustion, and the fire- 
men lay about the deck so overcome, 
as a result of asphyxiation, that they 
had to be relieved every fifteen 
minutes. 

The freighter Columbian, bound 
from Antwerp to New York, caught 
fire on May 3, 1914, while 300 miles 
south of Cape Race. The members of 
the crew were driven’to take refuge in 
the lifeboats, and fifteen of them per- 
ished. Thirteen of the survivors were 
picked up by the steamship Franconia, 


of Progreso, Yucatan, about 800 miles 
away, caught Captain McGray’s mes- 
sage asking for a prescription and 
method of treatment. The reply, writ- 
ten by the surgeon on the Merida was 
received on board the Herman Frasch 
before the naval station at Dry Tor- 
tugas could respond. Captain Mc- 
Gray, following directions, prepared a 
remedy from his medicine chest and 
soon recovered, 


Dr. Ernestus QO. Kuhr, of Brooklyn, 
New York, was aboard the Ward liner 
Esperanza, in March, 1913, when, on 
nearing Havana, the vessel's wireless 
caught a call for medical aid. The call 
came from the Altastad, a Norwegian 
freighter. Jt was explained that Wil- 
liam Murray, a Marconi tester aboard, 
had his arm badly infected. The doc- 
tor told him that the case was one for 
immediate operation, and advised the 
opening of the arm with a sharp, prop- 
erly sterilized penknife. He instructed 
the patient to use carbolic acid freery, 
and sent detailed instructions for dress- 
ing the wound, 

A wireless call for a surgeon was 
sent out by the Marconi operator on 
the steamship John A. Hooper, in Sep: 


CORR JUNK UN YUN PUNT YN TEN PON Pe PO TR PENN PON PENN JON JEN JEM TON TERN POR Tee A SE SEN TE On OO TR TT 


of the Cunard Line, fifty hours after 
the men aboard the ship had been 
driven to the boats by a serious explo- 
sion of unknown origin. Among those 
taken on board the Franconia was 
James Drohan, the Marconi operator 
on the Columbian, This rescue was 
made possible by the receipt by wire- 
less of news of the disaster by the 
Franconia’s Captain from other ships 
that had passed the burning Colum- 
bian after she had been deserted by her 
men. The Cunarder searched for the 
boats of the survivors and picked up 
the one containing the thirteen men. 
The Cunarder, by wireless, then cau- 
tioned other vesscls to be on the look- 
out for the missing boats of the Co- 
lumbian, which resulted in the rescue 
of the remaining survivors by the Man- 
hattan and the Seneca. In all thirty- 
one lives were saved. 

On September 1, while the City of 
Chicago, twelve miles out from Chi- 
cago, was learned to be on fire, appre 
hensions regarding the safety of those 
aboard were quieted by the comforting 
assurance, transmitted by wireless, 
that the vessel was in no danger, and 
in time she returned safely to port. 

Another spectacular marine disaster, 
which caused much anxiety to the 
friends and relatives of those aboard 
the vessel, was the fire of mysterious 
origin on the French liner La Touraine, 
bound from New York to Havre, with 
a cargo of ammunition. An SOS 
call sent out by the liner on March 6, 
1915. apprised the world that a serious 
fire had developed on board and that 
the flames were spreading at an alarm- 
ing rate. The call was promptly an- 
swered by the steamships Arabic, 
Cornishman. Swanmore and Rotter- 
dam. The Rotterdam was the first to 
arrive, and announced her readiness to 
take off the passengers, but by that 
time the crew had made headway 
against the flames. The Rotterdam, 
however, remained nearby, ready to 
lend aid, and escorted La Touraine as 
far as Prawle Point. where two French 
cruisers came in sight and convoved 
the injured vessel to Cherbourg. 

This year also was one prolific of 
fires. In the month of May two ves- 


= a ey il) 


tember, 1915. The appeal brought aid 
to Miss Annie Christiansen, a passen- 
ger who, during a severe storm, fell 
to the floor of her stateroom, sustain- 
ing a fractured leg. Aid was rendered 
by a surgeon on the steamship Allian- 
cia, which, although thirty-five miles 
away, responded to the call. The suf- 
ferer received directions by which she 
could alleviate her distress temporar- 
ily. The doctor, however, advised that 
the patient be sent to the nearest hos- 
pital, which was at Kingston, Jamaica, 
where the young woman was taken, 

A wireless call was sent out from 
the steamship “Radiant,” on October 
II, 1915, asking for the proper treat- 
ment to be extended to the ship's engi- 
neer, who, for three days, had re- 
mained unresponsive to medicines ad- 
ministered by the captain. The Mar- 
coni operator, William C. Thompson, 
communicated with the station at 
Tampa, Florida, and then with the 
Southern Pacific steamship Comus, from 
which the doctor’s advice was obtained. 
and the sick man was greatly relieved. 

These are only a small part of the 
achievements of the wircless message, 
which insures comfort and +: fety to 
those who go down to the sea in ships. 


BLUE PETER EDITION ag 


Wireless Via the Back Door Route 


[ Ralph N. Chase 


t was largely vy chance that certain things hap- 
pened to me in 1917 that would later make me eligi- 
ble for membership in the Wireless Pioneers, On 
October 17, 1915 in Los Angeles I took the examin- 
ation for first grade commercial under Ellery W. 
Stone, Assistant Radio Inspector. I passed it and 
thus came into possession of Commercial First Grade 
ticket #12420, My only reason for getting an op- 
erator license was that one was necessary to get a 
ham station license, An amateur grade ticket 
would have done the job, but John Waters (later 
John E. Waters, DDS), pre-station license call QW, 
then 6QW when licensing caught up with us, urged me 
to go for the first grade commercial. The ham 
station license I acquired was assigned the call 
6QR. As I remember it, 6QR and GQW were the only 
"Q" calls assigned at that time. 


In August, 1916, I went to Berkeley via SS Congress 
and entered the college of engineering of the Uni- 
versity of California, On April 350, 1917, along 
with some others from the university I enlisted in 
the Naval Reserve. We didn't even take the final 
examinations but we got credit for the year's work. 
So far as I know I am still on leave from the uni- 
versity. However, at my age I doubt if I will 
ever go back and finish! 


After several months' duty at a listening station 
in Monterey, California, with Harry Greene and A.W. 
Martin, followed by six weeks' duty on San Fran- 
cisco Light Vessel with Walt Maynes, I was assigned 
to KPH, I have a feeling that the Navy looked 
upon old KPH as perhaps just a step—child, At any 
rate, here I was, just a young squirt with a first 
grade ticket with not a single indorsement in the 
service record, assigned to a coveted berth at KPH 
with Dick Johnstone, Frank Shaw and A.W, Peterson. 
The Navy certainly gave the Marconi seniority sys- 
tem the deep six. While there I also met Ed Jor- 
gensen and B.C. McDonald. 


The land link to KPH was a Morse wire to downtown 
San Francisco. Even the press which KPH broadcast 
every morning came in over that wire. My first 
code practice had been with a sounder using the 
Morse code, so I did know the code, but I'll never 
forget the first night I tied into that press. I 
had to ask the guy to slow down, That made him 
mad, so he slowed to a walk and then his "fist" went 
all to pieces. Well, I finally got something writ- 
ten down which was duly broadcast with no later re- 
percussions,. I soon discovered that a little con- 
versation with the operator at the other end worked 
wonders. Soon I was able to take the press at a 
reasonable clip and everybody was reasonably happy. 
I was on watch the night the news of the armistice 
ending World War I came in over the wire. I have 
the key mounted on the operating table here at K6IX 
which I used that morning to broadcast this news 
along with the other press. 


During the months I spent at KPH I handled my share 
of “picture bride" traffic. I'll always remember 
the operator on JTY. Besides being a very fine 
operator he was the only diplomat amongst the op- 
erators on the Tenyo, Shinyo, Korea and Siberia 
Marus running regularly into San Francisco. He 
would call just once and let us know he had plenty 
of traffic, then he would QRX while we cleared all 
the miscellaneous ships scattered over the Pacific, 
even relaying stuff we were having trouble copying. 
But how he could unload those “arrive Thursday" 
messages when all other traffic had been cleared! 


After some twenty months at KPH (including some 
time after the navy changed the call to NWO) I was 
transferred to NPG where I worked the NPG—NPM arc 
circuit handling commercial traffic. Then fol- 
lowed a few months sea duty aboard USS New Mexico 
and USS New York. I was the "chief" aboard the 
latter battle wagon. On April 29, 1921 I received 
my honorable discharge aboard the New York at San 
Pedro. That ended my career at brass pounding as 
a means of livelihood, Thereafter I spent eight 
years in the automotive electrical and radio repair 
business in Berkeley. This was followed by some 
thirty-five years in the elevator business, the 
last twenty of which were either as manager, super- 
visor or superintendent. The last three years I 
was supervisor of field education for Haughton 
Elevator Company, Western Region, from which job I 
retired at age 68. 


Digital Media © K2TQN 2012 


BLUE PETER EDITION yup 


Soon after retirement I moved to Yucaipa, Califor- 
nia, from where I operate amateur station K6IX, al- 
most exclusively CW, I do have “ancient modula- 
tion" gear, but in these days of SSB it doesn't go 
over so big. Previous to 6QR already mentioned I 
had a couple of spark coils on the air beginning in 
about 1910, With the exception of the time from 
the expiration of 6QR during the war and getting 
6AHJ in the early twenties I have had a valid ama- 
teur operator and station license continuously. 
Somewhere along the line I acquired an amateur 
Class "A" license, and in accordance with FCC reg- 
ulations in 1952 this became an Amateur Extra Class 
ticket. A little later under the FCC "grandfather 
provisions" I acquired the two letter call K6IX, 


So this is the story of the young squirt who sneaked 
in the back door and thereby ultimately became eli- 
gible to join the Wireless Pioneers. 


30 ese tS 


—<— ea Going Radio Shacks 
—_— SS Past & Presen 


BY BEN RUSSELL 


Equipment on merchant ships has changed since the end of WW-2 
(1945) and the presnet. Many of these changes have been 
brought about by FCC and international rules changes; others 
reflect increases in communications and electronics technology. 


A World War II Liberty ship in coastal service may have had 
only a single transmitter on board, which served as the main 
and emergency unit; most did have an H/F rig which worked well. 


Modern vessels have SSB and CW capabilities on high frequency 
bands, separate main and emergency transmitters on medium fre— 
quency, and a minimum of two VHF FM transceivers. Present op- 
tions include radio printers (SITOR) and satellite communications 


Significant changes 


Modern ships use alternating current (AC) electrical power 
distribution systems, which eliminates the need for motor gen- 
erator sets to provide operating voltages and reduces the number 
of batteries to a minimum. Fortunately, the days of fighting 
acoustic noise, QRN, and arcing brushes have passed, and the 
present-day radio officer can concentrate on copying through 
normal QRM and QRN. Transmitters are crystal-controlled on 

the medium frequencies (410-512 KHz) and fully frequency-syn- 
thesized on H/F bands (4 - 25 MHz). Modern receivers have 
accurate frequency readout, permitting the R/O to park a receiver 
on a coast station, even when its marker transmissions are not 
being made, 


The emphasis on ship design has been to improve hull cargo 
utilization by moving the superstructure aft, which shortens 
the shaft alley, etc., but causes some significant antenna 
problems. 


The old medium-frequency antennas, which consisted of L and T 
configurations with 200 to 300-ft. flat-tops between masts have 
vanished, with a loss of efficiency. Modern ships are using 
short wire antennas or top-loaded vertical antennas on 500 KHz, 
which develop very high voltages and increase the susceptibility 
of lost antenna current in foggy or heavy spray conditions. 
Familiar doublets used for receiving have been replaced with 
35-ft. vertical whips. 


Modern Radio Rooms 


A typical tanker radio room on ships built in 1982 will usually 
be approximately 13 x 18 feet and contain four racks of equip- 
ment, desk, filing cabinet, work bench, storage containers, and 
a facsimile recorder. The portholes are permanently sealed to 
keep out fumes, and the room is cooled and heated by a forced 
air system. During times when the central air conditioner is 
down for maintenance, the radio shack heats up rapidly. 


Excluding satellite equipment, the radio room will have four or 
five fully synthesized receivers tuning from 10 KHz to 29.9999 
MHz - all electronic no magnetic clutches and motor or relays, 
auto alarm keyer, voice auto alarm keyer, fixed guard receiver 
for 2182 KHz, battery charger, audio distribution and switching, 
receiver antenna selection switching, automatic antenna tuner, 
and normal transmitter antenna switching. 


The Liberty ship used knife switches to select between HF- MF - 
main and emergency antennas, and fixed doublet antenna for the 
single H/F receiver. 


Operator Quarters 


The super tankers (VLCC) usually provide the Radio Officer with 
his air-conditioned sleeping room, head/shower, and a day room. 
The smaller ships provide a cabin with bunk, desk, easy chair, 
head/shower, usually adjacent to the radio room. A bedroom 
steward makes up the bunk and keeps the quarters neat and clean, 
tts eee) CSS te tS te SSS SET 


Back to Index. 


WIRELESS PIONEERS 


THE 


SALUTES 


BY- 


ERSKINE H, BURTON 


Reminiscing over a relatively short career as W/O in my younger 
days, some interesting experiences come to mind. This career 
began in 1928 and ended in 1939 at the outbreak of World War II. 


I recall aiding in the rescue of the crew of a Great Lakes car- 
go vessel ship-wrecked on an island in Lake Superior 100 miles 
northwest of Sault Ste. Marie. During the season of 1929 I was 
employed as a W/O and deckhand on the tug “James Whalen" VGZD, 
based in Port Arthur, Ontario. I had been promised a job on a 
"laker" by the Canadian Marconi Company, and together with two 
others we arrived in Port Arthur from our home town of Vancou- 
ver, to find Thunder Bay still completely ice-bound, no indica- 
tion of when shipping would open, and no word of any assign- 
ments from the Marconi Company. 


There was much activity with the harbor tugs, however, which 
were busy opening channels in the 40 inches of ice blocking the 
harbor in preparation for towing the loaded grain boats out to 
open water. The largest of these tugs, the "James Whalen", and 
the only tug equipped with wireless, needed an operator, who 
was required to double as deck-hand at a salary of $125 per 
month and all found. Rather than wait around for my assignment 
to a grain boat at $75 to $80 per month, I decided to take the 
job. Since we were on call ‘round the clock, it turned out to 
be a great opportunity to save money, since I rarely got off 
the ship, even to go up town. Also, at age 19, everything was 
exciting, and I was kept so busy I had no time to get into 
trouble. 


One day, toward the end of May, a sudden snowstorm swept over 
the lake. We were ordered to proceed to Keweenaw Point, on 
the upper peninsula of Michigan,where a large American cargo 
ship had gone aground, Its crew had managed to get ashore 
safely. Our task was to tow the salvage barge and equipment 
to the scene and to see if it were possible to free the ship 
from the reef. After two weeks' work preparing the ship for 
the long tow to Duluth by fitting her with pumps to keep her 
afloat, we were ready for the attempt to pull her free. With 
the sid of a second tug brought over from Port Arthur, we be- 
gan to pull. Slowly, with a shattering sound of steel against 
rock, and with half a dozen large pumps spewing water in all 
directions from her deck, the ship began to move. 


We had been successful in freeing the Ralph Budd from her 
cradle on the reef, but now our concern was that of keeping 
her afloat during the 200-mile tow to the head of the lake. 
Fortunately, all pumps kept working, we reached Duluth un- 
eventfully, and docked our tow in the twin city of Superior, 
Wisconsin. All pumps were shut down, allowing the ship to 
rest on the bottom, only the hold filling with water. The 
following day we returned to our home port. 


Our next contact with the wrecked ship was several months later 
when we were ordered to proceed to Superior to bring her to 
Port Arthur, where she was to be dry-docked. The pumps were 
re-started, and again we had an uneventful tow, followed by 
putting the ship in drydock. Here she remained until the third 
week in October, when it was decided to tow her to Collingwood, 
Ontario, on Georgian Bay, some 500 miles distant, where she was 


to be repaired. 


Digital Media © K2TQN 2012 


BLUE PETER EDITION gm 


TON Tay 


We set out on the long tow to Georgian Bay around the 23rd of 
October. A larger, more powerful tug, the "Strathbogie", had 
been dispatched from Collingwood to take the towline, while our 
tug was lashed to the port side astern to keep the ship on 
course. Midway across Lake Superior we received a storm warn- 
ing, the first of the season. The captain of the Strathbogie 
decided to head for shelter to wait out the storm. Just in 
time, we found shelter in a small bay on Michipicotten Island, 
100 miles northwest of the Soo. Here we were to remain for a 
full week, our only neighbors being two fishermen's families 
living in the harbor. We were comfortable here while the gale 
raged outside the harbor, but our radio brought the news of 
tragedy all about. One night I listened as the onerator of a 
of a car ferry crossing Lake Michigan calmly advised the 
Chicago Radio - WGO that they were taking water and in ne 
of assistance. WGO asked him to stand by while the sta- 
tion notified the shipping company. A few minutes later 
WHO called the car ferry repeatedly, getting no reply. We 
later learned from the newspaper the news that she had 
disappeared with no survivors. 


As the storm began to abate, we learned from a passing ship 
that they had sighted a cargo vessel, which was high and dry 
on the rocks on the opposite side of the island from us--some 
10 miles away. This ship, the "CHICAGO", was not equipped 
with wireless gear. We acknowledged the message and advised 
that we would attempt to reach the wrecked ship. Early the 
next morning we set out for the scene, but the sea was still 
too rough and we returned to shelter. However, the same after- 
noon we were able to reach the scene, heaving to a mile or so 
off shore due to the reefs. We were greeted by a formidable 
sight--the ship was perched on the rocks at an angle of about 
45 degrees with its bow high and dry and its stern submerged. 
Close by we saw smoke and thru' the glasses we saw several men 
moving around on the shore. We lowered a boat with the intent 
of going in to their assistance, but the captain decided it 
would only be carried beyond the island and out to sea, due to 
the wind direction, and the boat was brought back aboard. We 
then notified the Coast Guard at the Soo, asking them to dis- 
patch a rescue boat to the scene. On arriving back at Batcha- 
wana Harbor we learned that two of the ship's crew had walked 
across the barren island to where we were sheltered and report- 
ed the crew were all in good condition. The following morning 
the Coast Guard arrived and sent in a lifeboat to rescue the 
crew. 


NINTH COAST GUARD DISTRICT 
GUARDIAN OF THE EIGHTH SEA 


On completing our tow to Georgian Bay, we were ordered to pro- 
ceed home. On our way back we were diverted to five different 
ships which had been either wrecked or frozen in the ice in the 
Straits, with orders to render any possible assistance. Our 
last assignment on this trip was to pick up the light-keepers 
at Isle Royal and Passage Island, 40 miles out from Port Arthur. 
We limped into port on Christmas Eve, 1929, breaking six inches 
of ice to get thru'. We had been gone just over two months. On 
Christmas morning I had to be chopped out of my cabin, the door 
of which had been frozen shut. 


Fresh water sailing on Lake Superior, the largest body of fresh 
water in the world, in November and December, is a hazardous 
experience. The year 1929 was the most disastrous season for 
shipping on the Great Lakes since 1913, when many ships were 
lost with no survivors. More than 200 lives were lost on the 
lakes during the 1929 season. 


Back to Index 


parm SPARKS JOURNAL 7-2 


Reprinted from The Inland Seas Beacon 


Ann Arbor Car Ferry#* 4. 


BY ~ GEO.X.M.COLLIER 


In all of Frankfort's intimacy with marine affairs, there was 
probably never another disaster, with no fatalities, that 
caused so much of a thrill and lasting interest as did the 
sinking of Ann Arbor carferry No. 4, on the night of February 
14, 1923. 


Few people at the time immediately realized the miraculous 
escape of the crew, though they read the brief news item of the 
ferry's sinking. 


On the 13th, the Ann Arbor carferry No. 4 sailed out of Frank- 
fort harbor at 8:00 p.m. for Kewanee, Wisconsin, Capt. Fred- 
rickson and his crew of 30 believed that they could get in the 
lee of the west shore of Lake Michigan before the reported 
storm struck the lake. 


They did not have any intimation of the great velocity of the 
wind that was traveling across the country, and when it struck 
them, one hour and forty minutes later, they realized it was 

a life-sized hurricane. 


The force of the wind and the heavy seas made it impossible for 
the boat to hold up before the storm: and with its heavy load 
of nineteen cars of coal and one car of Buick automobiles, 
trouble soon began on the car deck, despite the efforts of the 
entire crew in trying to hold the car fastenings from breading 
and letting the cars loose. 


Cars began to break loose and run back and forth on the tracks, 
some rolling over on the decks, bending stanchions and deck 
beams, and wrecking the inside of the boat in a frightful 
manner. 


The carload of automobiles went overboard, from the stern, with 
several cars of coal. Other cars of coal hung over the stern 
of the boat, weighting it down, so it was but a few inches 
above the water, which soon lashed over the boat's deck and 

ran down into the engine and fire hold. 


The crew on deck, headed by the captain, could not accomplish 
much in holding the cars, and the engineers, with all pumps 
working, could not gain on the quantity of water which kept 
coming down through the deck openings. 


The engineers and the firemen stuck to their stations, while 
standing in water steadily growing deeper. The captain on deck 
calmly smoked his pipe and encouraged his crew, while he worked 
with them trying to secure the rolling cars, 


Wie 
a Fd 
7 pe! 


” 


forxmac 
"HOW DID I KNOW UY HAM STATION 


WAS BUSTIN' UP MARINE TRAFFIC 
ON 600 METERS." 


Digital Media © K2TQN 2012 


BLUE PETER EDITION & 


a wis 


WHAT MAY BE EXPECTED 


A CARTOONIST’S IDEA OF 
WIRELESS IN DAYS TO COME 


From the Rochester, N. V., herald, 


The only hope was to keep the boat afloat as long as possible 
and run a chance of sinking in shallow water, near the shore. 
There, also, the breakers would be dashing up against the shore 
icebergs, and the floes of ice were grinding back and forth in 
the heavy seas. No boat could have lasted long under such con- 
ditions. 


The snowstorm was so dense the crew could not see any distance 
over the lake. They had no means of knowing just where they were. 


The radio operator got in touch with the shore radio operator 
at Frankfort, and he tried to direct them toward the harbor. 
No radio compass device was then in use, but the Frankfort 
operator managed to give them an idea of that course to steer. 


At daybreak of the cold winter morning, when about all hope 
had gone, the storm quieted down to some extent, and the snow 
stopped falling, so that when the air cleared a little, the 
first sight was the harbor light of Frankfort harbor. 


The carferry was headed partly crosswise for the harbor en- 
trance. The boat, being so deep in the water, soon struck 
bottom. 


The propellor shaft and propellor on one side broke off, and 

the working of the propellor on the opposite side shifted the 
ferry around straight, so that it ran up alongside the south 

pier and nearly into a cellar of waves, where it sank. 


The firemen and engineers waded through water up to their 
waists and barely had time to climb to the upper deck before 
the steamer went down, with water reaching half way up to the 
upper deck, over the car deck. 


Before the boat rested on the bottom, it was dashed against 
the south pier and nearly rolled over. The crew clung to the 
top side of the boat, ready to climb onto the ice-covered pier, 
but the boat righted itself just before it foundered. It lay 
so close to the pier that the crew had no trouble in getting 
off on the pier and walking to shore. 


The ferry was a mass of ice inside and out for many days, but 
by the aid of cofferdams and divers, with good wrecking out- 
fits and pumps, the boat was finally raised and taken to the 
Manitowoc shipyard, where it was repaired and is still in 
active service. 


ene RR Re RHRHRHRHRHREHRHeHRHRRHe RHHRRHRRHRHR HARA N 


George writes: 


I was a sophomore in high school at the time, and remember this 
well ! 


The radio op. on SSAA No. 4 was the late Ferris McKesson, of 
Sandia, N. M. The ship's radio call was WDO; the shore sta- 


tion was WFK. 
OTT 


PLL LOL BL NOE LL BLE OBL BLN N GTN GLE EL NEL NEE ONO NG 


Digital Media © K2TQN 2012 


Back to Index 


BLUE PETER EDITION 


haga Of fhe Tanker Java Arrow 


By Michael J. Orofino 


Story of Sabotage and Torpedoes 


I was the radio operator on the S.S. Java Arrow, an oi] 

tanker of the Socony Vacuum 011 Company when it went into the 
shipyard for extensive armament preparations on March 24, 1942. 
The radio cabin was protected on the outside by heavy steel 
plates. Two Browning machine guns were mounted at each 

end of the bridge. A five-inch gun was mounted at the stern 
of the ship. A five-man navy crew was assigned to the ship. 


We left New York April 25 as the last ship in a convoy. Our 
lead ship was a'corvette, a fast warship used for anti- 
submarine and convoy duty. Our ship was bound for Curacao. 
There we were to load and then proceed to a port in the Persian 
Gulf. Before leaving New York, a cargo of high test gasoline 
contained in drums was stored in 'tween deck. This deck is 
located on top of the bunkers (cargo tanks) and beneath the 
main deck, 


About a day out of New York, the Chief Engineer, Mr. Albert 
Fentress, and the First Engineer, Mr. Andrew Weller came to 
me and explained about a problem with the signal systems 
between the bridge and the navy gun crew back aft, at the 
stern of the ship. The signal system did not work. They 
were unable to locate the cause of the problem. They asked 
me if I would help them. 


With my test meter I checked the continuity of the wires in 
the signal system. There was a definite open circuit between 
the bridge terminals and the terminals at the gunner's posi- 
tion. The wires were encased in a half-inch rubber casing 
and protected by a metal braided covering. I proceeded to 
check the cable for possible damage, starting from the bridge, 
tracing the cable below deck where the drums of gasoline were 
stored, along the length of the ‘tween deck, to the stern of 
the ship. Here, the cable came up along the frame of a door- 
way where I noticed a rough area on the painted surface of 
the cable. I scraped off the paint and removed a soft 
material imbedded inside the cable. This material looked 
like putty. After I cleaned out this putty-like substance, 
it became apparent that the cable wires were cut. It seemed 


that a drill was used to dig into the cable to cut the wires 
then packed up with this material and painted over again. 


I notified our Captain, Mr. Sigvered J. Hennichen, the Chief 
Engineer and the navy Chief Petty Officer in charge. | 
showed them the damaged cable and how it was covered over to 
be undetected. 1 immediately repaired the cable and the sig- 
nal systems between the bridge and the gunner's position 

back aft were back in operation. 


))) \ 


f 


We were in the Florida Straits on May 2, at about 11:45 P.M. 
when the S.S. Java Arrow was struck by two torpedoes. The 
first torpedo struck the port after quarter, flooding the 
engine room and killing our Third Engineer, Mr. Philip Shera. 
Also our Chief Engineer, whose room was above the engine room 
was killed. Luckily our Fireman was on deck going forward 

to call his relief. The Oiler and the Wiper on watch were 
near the top railing of the engine room and both managed to 
escape. 


The second torpedo struck us seconds later, mid-ship, port 
side, just below my cabin and sending all of us scrambling 
to our positions. I ran up to the bridge to pick up a mes- 
sage on our position from the Captain, and ran down to the 
radio room. My receiver was dead! I could not hear any 
signals. The transmitter did not show any antenna current. 
The main antenna was out of service. I tried the auxiliary 
antenna, and that also did not work. I ran back to the 
Captain who was now on deck with the Mates directing the 
lowering of the lifeboats. I explained the antenna problem to 
him and suggested that I go and try to repair the antenna 
above the radio room, or string up a wire up there. He said, 
"We have no time; we must abandon ship immediately." I ran 
back to the radio room, quickly stretched out a roll of 
scrap wire and connected it to the transmitter. I quickly 
sent out the distress signal S.S.S. and our position, hoping 
that it will be heard. I was trying to listen for any faint 
reply to my distress call when I was called to abandon ship. 
The ship was listing port side and sinking fast. I climbed 
down Jacob's ladder into the lifeboat with the Captain close 
behind. The crew pulled the lifeboat away from the ship as 
quickly as possible. 


We were in two lifeboats. It was a dark night. We were 
thankful that the gasoline drums stored ‘tween deck did not 
explode or ignite. Otherwise this story may have been dif- 


ferent. Two of the crew in our boat were injured and 
bleeding. The Chief Mate, Mr. William Duggan who was in 

our lifeboat fired two rockets. The first rocket was fired 
directly overhead, and the light from the rocket illuminated 
our lifeboat like a circular spotlight on a stage. It gave 
us an eerie and tense feeling sitting in that lifeboat sur- 
rounded by a dark ocean. We heard of reports that enemy 
submarines sometimes surfaced and shelled the ship and life- 
boats. The second rocket this time was fired at an angle, 
away from the lifeboat. About two hours later we were 
picked up by boats from the Coast Guard Auxiliary in Fort 
Lauderdale, Florida. They were a beautiful sight. 


The next day we received a report that the Java Arrow was 
still afloat. Apparently the empty bunkers kept the ship 
from sinking. The Chief Mate, with several crewmen and 
myself, went back to the ship on a navy mine sweeper. The 
Java Arrow was afloat but her deck was under water. We 
climbed aboard and surveyed the damages. The Chief Mate 
and I went up to the bridge and noticed the main antenna 
lead-in wire dangling up high. It broke away from the 
feed-through insulator to the radio room. The auxiliary 
antenna was down completely. Apparently the antenna systems 
on these tankers were vulnerable to snapping apart when the 
ship was torpedoed. Our sister ship, S.S. China Arrow, had 
a similar experience. The main antenna snapped and came 
down after the ship was struck by a torpedo. The Captain, 
Paul H. Browne, ordered lifeboats to be launched, and he 
and the radio operator, Kenneth William Maynard, tried to 
put up a temporary antenna. They quickly abandoned the at- 
tempt when the enemy submarine began shelling the stricken 
vessel. The ship sank about an hour after being struck by 
the torpedo. 


In Fort Lauderdale, two government officials contacted me 

at the hotel where all of us were staying. I gave them a 
detailed report on the cut cable to the gunner's position, 
and explained how it was cleverly camouflaged. We know that 
all signal systems were checked after installation, and 

also tested before sailing. Was the cable cut while we were 
in the shipyard just minutes before sailing? Or was it cut 
when they were loading the drums of gasoline at the dock 
before sailing to meet the convey? (Continued on Page 29) 


COT EN TE EO TN PE SO a 


Back to Index 


Digital Media © K2TQN 2012 


In this amusing fantasy, the Editor of De Blauwe 


Wimpel watches the na vigation systems’ 


tournament in Silicon Valley. We do not necessarily 


agree with the result! 


i OCIETY OF WIRELESS PIONEERS. 


AT 2G 


AT THE TOURNAMENT 
OF TECHNIQUES 


Jan Noordegraff 


In our modern age, technology means trying to control a 
part of nature, for which we have all kinds of specialists 
available, and they develop a specific jargon for their very 
own selective professional area. 

The users of technical systems have partly adopted this 
professional language, but in the end they are more 
interested in the results of their application. 

In order not to limit the scope of this essay to pure 
professional and critical end-users, it seems advisable to 
specify the mast prominent and modern electronic navi- 
gation and radiolocation systems. 

They are listed according to range, accuracy and fre- 
quency, and classified with respect to their short- or long: 
range possibilities. 

This classification is also meant to be a list of competi- 
tors at the tournament of the century. 

The participants are present under own colours and 
with own means at their disposal, trying to gain the favour 
of their end-users: geologists, nautical officers, geodists, 
oil companies, the military, cartographers, hydrographers 
and many others. And also you. 


tT IS WARM in Silicon Valley, California, cradle of the most 
advanced electronic systems in the world. Behind us a 
couple of parabolic disc aerials for an American earth 
station are slowly moving between the horizons, follow- 
ing satellites coming over in their polar orbits. 

The gathering around me has followed the repeated 
warning of the speaker whose voice thundered over the 
valley after the roll call, and covered their heads, for the 
sun is a killer. When | look up, | see the blinding light of the 
sun in a dome of the faintest biue, in which a number of 
earth satellites, so important for our purpose—radio- 
location—are persisting on their predeterrnined tracks 
through the thin remnants of the earth's atmosphere. 

Observing the crowds behind a pair of dark sunglasses, | 
see the peoples of the Earth under all kinds of odd 
headgear—cowboy hats, straw hats, sombreros, a single 
fez, buttoned handkerchiefs, Arab veils, Indian turbans, 
ponchos argentinos, Korean fighting caps and—last but 
not least—some bowler hats. 

A truly international gathering has come this long way, 
each of them on their own motives—national, technical, 
economic, nautical, geodetical—to be present at this 
tournament of the technical titans of the age and have 
already betted heavily on their own favourites. Again the 
stone-hard voice of the speaker is sounding over the 
quivering valley: ‘That the best systern may win!’ Roaring 
applause follows his words, bouncing off the edges and 
slopes of the Rockies around us. 


Battle of the century 

‘Silence, please! You are going to witness the battle of 
the century!’ Suddenly it becomes quiet. The public is 
standing up in order better to see the participants. 

Through my binoculars | peep at the participants. In the 
battle are Lord Decca with Navigator, Trisponder and 
Pulse 8; Monsieur Sercel from Nantes with Toran and 
Syledis; a Dutchman in wooden shoes with Artemis; anda 
choice of Americans, such as Tom Motorola with Mini- 
ranger, Dan Cubic with Argo and Autotape, and Hydro 
Track, ranging to 300 miles. But the big match for world 
hegemony will take place between Bill Omega, Luke Loran 
and Sam Satellite, all three of them impressively spon- 
sored by the American Government. 

It is well known that the ancient Count Marconi, the 
Anglo-Italian, met little competition with his first and only 
Goniometer, and dominated the race-track for several 
decennia, although there was equal competition from 
France and Germany. In 1940, however, Lord Nelson 
Decca and Big Luke Loran entered the arena, although the 
one-track-minded European Carlo di Consol tried to hold 
out against all odds. But in the meantime all drop-outs had 
disappeared, so that a field of the strongest remained. 

‘| am wondering what the Russians and Japanese are 
going to do,’ remarks somebody behind me. He is right. 
The obvious presence of the silent Soviets and the smiling 
Japanese with their secret, anonymous systems, has also 
caught my attention, But personally | am more interested 
in the first appearance of the Dutchman Fritzy Philips with 
the Danish crack AP Navigator. The chuckling crowd 
seems to be highly interested, and a lot of exclamations 
are heard. 


The method used by Philips is rather unconventional. 
However, it was to be expected. AP Navigator is clearly 
using the facilities of Lord Decca, who obviously held onto 
his patents too long, and managed to create quite some 
resistance with the users. 


Countdown begins 

‘On your marks!’, the metal voice of the speaker calls 
out—a symbolic way of putting it. The countdown has 
begun: target, the year 2000. The tension is as sensible as 
the heat in Silicon Valley. 

In the distance all kinds of people in white coats and 
overalls are still running around, carrying parabolic 
antennae, integrated circuits, minuscule chips, hyper- 
boles, asymptotes, drawings and heavy hardware. ‘Those 
technicians,’ | think, ‘never content. always engaged until 
the last moment.’ The air is vibrating. The pictures of the 
technicians are unreal and deformed. They are long and 
tiny, and carry huge heads full of software on top of their 
swaying bodies, 

‘Helpers away!", the speaker calls, ‘Anchors aweigh!' 
Next to me, a bulky American with a tin of beer in his hand 
tries to be funny. My smile is full of tension, “Vamos!’ 
somebody shouts from the crowd. 

A shot echoes over the valley. The direction is uncertain, 


téut the helpers tumble into the dust and the Systems are 
now moving forward in a cloud of dust. The speaker starts 
giving his eyewitness account in a high-pitched voice 

At this moment | do not listen to him. The dust clouds 
stop one seeing what is going on. My thoughts are 
wandering off to laboratories, schools and universities, 
the breeding ground of science and techniques. | know 
very well that highly-skilled technicians, nameless and 
dedicated, will time after time again emerge enthusiastic- 
ally out of their trenches of science, only to be shot at by 
their opponents, and see their brilliant ideas die with an 
unbelieving smile on their faces, And in between all of 
them the mortar shells of economy are making havoc, 
killing friends and enemies. 

The American next to me exclaims: ‘What a siaughter- 
house!’ ‘Navigare necesse est, vivere non est necesse’, | 
suddenly think. It came from nowhere. But look, the 
System has priority. The onlookers only mind the results 
and the inventors are not important. ‘C‘est /a vie/", aman 
with an alpino cap remarks. 

The speaker is almost hysterical now. ‘Watch them! 
Lord Decca and Luke Loran, who got the old Count 
Marconi out of his saddle in 1940, have to allow with foam 
on their lips that they are left behind, both in their own 
class and distance, by AP Navigator and Sam Satellite, 
closely followed by the heavily panting Bill Omega, who in 
his own time impatiently trampled down the innocent 
Decca and his comrade-in-arms Loran, after which those 
two had already divided the world between themseives, 
like the Spaniards and the Portuguese in ancient times 
under the sanction of the Holy Pope of Rome!’ 

‘Njet pravda," a Russian shouts. 'Sa/juski... .“ ‘Ah, shut 
up!,” the American next to me remarks, ‘May the best 
system win!’ One row in front of us a Japanese is laughing 
but I don’t know why. 


Change in 1970 

‘The big change came when Sam Sateliite in or about 
the year 1970 suddenly emerged over the horizon and 
Started to subdue ail kinds of terrestial radio navigation 
systems with his heavenly looping-the-loops. And look 
what he is doing now! He is the fastest and the best and is 
going to win, | tell you! There, he takes the bend! What 
style, what performance! Small he is, compact, sure of 
himself, the disc-shape antennae-eyes beggingly directed 
to the skies, as if ail blessings are coming from that direc- 
tion after all! But for many earthlings and watchers this 
Sam is still an outcast with little feeling for real propor- 
tions, But what a guy! What power! What technique!" 


The speaker is in optimum form. | close my eyes for a 
moment and when | open them again, | focus on a queer 
old man in uniform, shooting the sun with an antique 
sextant. ‘The ancient mariner’, the bowler hat remarks, 
also seeing the old man. And with typical English humour 
adds: ‘Must be British!’ 

And in the meantime the reporting of the speaker is 
scattering around over the heated valley: ‘Still Sam 
Satellite is the number one, ladies and gentlemen, but look 
what is happening! He is losing speed. Suddenly his per- 
formance is down. He stops altogether. What is the matter 
with him? He seems to have a stroke or something!’ 

| look over my shoulder, expecting to see the cause of 
this. In the distance the disc aerial is not moving any more. 
Instead it remains directed towards the horizon under 
which the navigation satellite has just disappeared. Sam 
does not receive signals any more. He has to wait until the 
next satellite appears again, or just go on to dead reckon- 
ing. And that is what he is doing now, 

The public is rising. Some of them are furious, some 
delighted. "Winning this race is a synthesis between tech- 
niques and capital,’ the speaker explains, 


ClassA = Short- and medium-range 


System Range(nm) Acc. (mi) Freq. 
Artemis 10 3-10 9,200—9,270 
Decca HiFix 17 
2,900-3,100 
2 
2 
Mini Ranger 5,550-9,400 
Pulse 8 0.1 
Syledis 406-450 
Trisponder 9,300~9,500 
Toran 2 


ClassB Long-range 


AP Navigator 
Decca Navigator 


200-300 90-130 KHz 
200-300 90-130 KHz 
200--1,500 90-110 KHz 
5,000 ¢ . 10.2-13.6 KHz 
world-wide 150; 400 MHz 


And again there is excitement, On the short-range track 
something unexpected is apparently happening. The Big 
Dutchman is going to win from Lord Decca, | believe,’ the 
speaker announces. ‘Of course,’ a German remarks. 'A 
Dutch trick,’ the bowler hat states. ‘May the best system 
win!', the valley repeats. 

| am still chewing on the echo, when the crowd begins to 
cheer and the tournament field is suddenly changing into 
an arena full of sound. Sam Satellite gets the spirit again. 
Behind me | notice how the disc antenna is veering up 
from its lowest position, is swaying up and down search- 
ingly and begins to follow a fixed arc across the sky, 
passing the sun in the zenith and beyond to the other 
horizon. At the same time Sam Satellite takes the lead 
without any faltering and is leaving all others far behind. 
There seems no alternative. 

‘Look,’ the bowler hat says, pointing to the old man with 
the sextant, which he has thrown upon the ground and is 
kicking furiously. What a gamel,’ the American says. 

The crowd sits down again. Strangely enough it does 
not become dark, At the tournament of techniques the sun 
apparently does not go down. 

| wonder how Silicon Valley will look in the year 2000, 
and which participants will remain. Maybe | will be a wit: 
ness again—a fascinating outlook.C) 


There has always been intense rivairy, not 

only among nations but entities within nations 
to have their "mode" of communications 
adopted as the 'standard' throughout the 
world. Society member, JAN NOORDEGRAFF 
3442-V is co-editor on three European mari- 
time and electronic magazines, has watched 
trends for many years and is eminently quali- 
fied to report on the vagaries in the commun- 
ications and maritimes fields. He watches 
the "Battle of the Titans" from his perch as 
Editor/Author and chronicles in lucid detzil 

the 'chess-game' for high-stakes always in 
progress as his fantasy developes on this Page. 


It is not as fast-acting as the 'one-way'bout 
between Christians and Lions at the Coliseum 
in the days of Caesar and ancient Rome, or 
for that matter Super-Bowl XIX when played 
out in January. However, the long-term 
effect will probably be greater to more peo- 
ole. W.ASB. 


COAL PLN NNER ROL NOL NEL ELIE OLE NOL LOLOL” REAM OLE 


Digital Media © K2TQN 2012 


Back to Index 


gem SPARKS JOURNAL 7-2 ¢ 


Saving Lives Around The World 


MEET “EPIRB” 


Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon 


PAUL L. SCHMIDT 1413“V 


The Navy, in 1ts wisdom, tong ago eliminated code requirements 
for its radiomen. Now they let their fingers do the talking 

on & computer, or use voice. This is a new day, and we should 
learn to make our way in it. There is now a new type of equip- 
ment for locating and finding distress vehicles such as downed 
aircraft of all kinds, ships in distress, even hikers in the 
wilds (if they carry the unit with them). 


EPIRB is the name of the device, The name means "Emergency 
Position Indicating Radio Beacon". NASA is the parent agency 
responsible and responsive to distress calls from EPIRB's 
anywhere in the world. EPIRB's are found on most large air- 
craft and many smaller ones. They are aboard all seagoing 
ships on shich a radiotelegraph station is required, and on 
many other craft: yachts, tugs, fishing boats, wherever people 
put to sea, EPIRB's are carried. 


For ships, the EPIRB is activated when it finds itself in water. 
If the vessel containing the EPIRB sinks, the little device 
floats, hopefully somewhere near the wreck, and begins trans~ 
mitting a continuous signal on 121.5 and/or 243 MHZ from its 
tiny antenna, radiating its milliwatts of RF. 


Now at least one orbiting satellite (and there will be more) 
acts as a repeater, relaying the EPIRB's uncoded cry for help. 
From the doppler frequency shift as the satellite approaches 
the EPIRB and then recedes from it, the EPIRB's position can 
be determined quite accurately in one or two orbit passes. 
More than a hundred rescues have been made using EPIRB's thus 
far. It is planned to begin a second generation of EPIRB's, 
each containing an identity code which will be continuously 
transmitted upon activation. 


The EPIRB at present can say to the world only, "HERE I AM. I 
HAVE BEEN ACTIVATED, HELP!" A satellite relays this informa- 
tion to NASA's listening posts. Whereas, a ship or aircraft 

in distress, depending upon available time, gives the distress 
call (SOS or MAYDAY) its position, name, nature of the trouble, 
and the help required. If it's a ship, an alarm signal is also 
sent which rings bells on nearby vessels calling off-watch oper- 
ae to 500 KHZ and 2182 KHZ to listen and, if possible, give ) 
aid. 


SINKING OF THE SS. JAVA ARROW - OROFINO 


(Continued trom Page 2b) 


Reflecting back during the period from December 7, 1941, 

to most of 1942, our oil tankers plying coastwise were openly 
vulnerable to enemy submarine attacks. During our trips 
coastwise, we passed many abandoned tankers, torpedoed and 
still floating. We saw the mast tops of sunken vessels that 
were dangerous to navigation. Our auto alarm was going off 
constantly, especially from ships near Cape Hatteras, coming 
north and following the Gulf Stream. The enemy submarines 
were there waiting with minimal risk of being attacked by 

our military. On one particular stormy night, I received 
three distress calls, less than one hour apart, from ships 
near Cape Hatteras. I alerted the Captain each time I 
received the distress call. The Java Arrow was about two 
days out of New York and going south to Texas. Our Captain 
immediately changed the ship's course to pass further east 

of Cape Hatteras than normally. We were to pass that area 
the following day. We,arrived safely in Texas and again back 
safely to New York. 


Socony Vacuum 011 Company lost many tankers during this per- 
iod. My last two ships, the S.S. India Arrow (I left her in 
August, 1941) was torpedoed January, 1942. She caught fire 
and many of the officers and crew were killed. The S.S. 
Rochester (I left her in November, 1941) was torpedoed in 
February, 1942. 


From my observation, the officers and crew of the $.S. Java 
Arrow conducted themselves rather well during the abandoning 
of the ship. However, sometimes in a moment of panic, you 
do notice some unusual behavior. When our ship was tor- 
pedoed, many of our crew were coming from the fo'castle and 
running towards the lifeboats. One seaman in particular was 
noticed. He was barefoot, wearing only shorts, and trying 


to get into a lifeboat holding a neck-tie. 


BLUE PETER EDITION rgry 


My business is Merchant Marine Radio. It is my good fortune 
that I have never been required to send an auto alarm signal. 
a Mayday nor SOS, But Maritime accidents happen in spite of 
the best precautions. American crews as a rule are far more 
watchful for danger, and are more trained and drilled in the 
practice of safe procedures than those of some other countries. 


It bears stating here and now that the lifeboat radio put on 
board merchant vessels of the U.S. fleet, leaves more than just 
something to be desired. The radio was designed before or dur- 
ing WW2, and was very probably built at that time. It isa 
hand-cranked device, using vacuum tubes, It puts out at very 


best, 5 watts of RF from a 6AQ5 output amplifier on 500 KHZ 
or 8.364 MHZ. It requires l-minute of cranking just to warm 
up the filaments. 


After the ship is sunk and the EPIRB floats away, and the life- 
boat is launched, we are left with this thing? Sad but true, 
YES! 


Now is the time to gear up for a sparkling new generation of 
survival craft radio, one that will give the crew a fighting 
chance to call for help from the stormy seas. This is my con- 
tribution: 


U.S. MERCHANT MARINE SURVIVAL CRAFT TWO-WAY RADIO 
This May Be Used As A Specification. 


This concept sees maximum effectiveness incorporating modern 
light weight solid-state technology. 


1. DESIGN. Careful, thoughtful planning of the product 
is called for, optimizing weight, space and energy, suggesting 
the use of aircraft materials in cabinet and panels, and 400-HZ 
motors and generators where moving parts are required. The 
total weight, including antenna, interconnecting cables, hand- 
cranked battery charger, battery and transmitter-receiver unit 
should not exceed 150 pounds. 


2. REQUIREMENTS. The survival craft transmitter-receiver 
unit should be international orange in color. The exterior 
should be constructed with radiused corners and edges. The 
unit density should be such that it will float in salt water. 
It should further, withstand a free fall of 50 feet into the 
water without damage. 


Transmitter output should be a minimum of 25 watts on any mode 
or frequency. Modes of operation shall be simplex MF CW, HF, 
CW and single sideband (upper sideband only), and VHF FM. The 
transmitter-receiver unit shall be powered by either a hand- 
cranked generator or by a 12 volt lead-acid or nicad battery, 
splash-proof or gel cell type. Both battery and generator will 
be permanently installed in the survival craft, the battery 
remaining on trickle charge from the ship's mains, and equipped 
with automatic line disconnect on lowering of survival craft. 


A state-of-the-art light-weight MF/HF vertical antenna will 
also remain stowed permanently aboard the survival craft. It 
shall be a minimum of 30 feet in length, and will plug into the 
transmitter-receiver unit through a water-tight connector and a 
cable of fixed length. The antenna will be pre-tuned by means 
of antenna configuration and minimal sized inductors and capac- 
itors within the transmitter-receiver unit. Exterior insula- 
tion such as fiberglass tubing or shell shall cover the lower 
approximately 12 feet of the antenna to protect personnel, A 
strong approximately 12-foot pole of insulated material shall 
be arranged for positive action in raising and lowering the 
antenna. A type of collar around the 12-foot level of the an- 
tenna is suggested for attaching nylon lines down to the gun- 


Quite remarkable picture of the White Star Fleet from a painting 

by Victor H. Laughlin. The S.S. Republic is identified by an arrow 
near center. The Republic of course was saved by "Wireless" when 
Operator Jack Binns was able to summon aid by this new method of 
communication. The picture was published in 1909 in a book titled 
"Operators Wireless & Telephone Handbook" It is from the collection 
of Member, Laird M. Wise. Caption of photograph read " A Modern 
Merchant Fleet Equipped with Marconi Wireless Telegraph." 


Digital Media © K2TQN 2012 


Back to Index 


a8 SPARKS JOURNAL 7-2 BLUE PETER EDITION gag 


- SCHMIDT 


“EPIRB” 


wales or sides of the survival craft for a simi-permanent in- 
Stallation. A socket for the base of the antenna shall be 
provided on one of the survival craft seats, 


Transmitter-receiver controls shall be human engineered for 
optimum access. They should be as simple as possible and 
clearly marked. Low current drain pilot lamps shall provide 
illumination for night time operation, 


The placement of the telegraph key should enhance the comfort 
and clean sending of the operator. A side tone shall be pro- 
vided each time the key contacts are closed. Creativity is 
suggested in design of the telephone handset. It may or may 
not be fitted with phones for both ears, but a type of head- 
band is necessary that both hands may be free while operating 
the equipment. A secure, recessed housing for the handset 
inside the transmitter-receiver cabinet is required. The use 
of voice operated relay for transmitter control is not recom- 
mended because of the high ambient noise levels aboard sur- 
vival craft. A water-proof loudspeaker with on-off switch 
shall be provided inside the cabinet. 


A separate VHF antenna shall be provided, or it may be incor- 
porated with or installed on the MF/HF antenna. Height above 
water of a VHF antenna extends the useful range dramatically. 


Frequency and mode switching of the transmitter-receiver unit 
shall be accomplished by front panel controls. These may be 
arranged to suit the designer, provided the concept of human 
engineering is adhered to, for ease in operation. Controls 
shall be: 1. FREQUENCY 2. MODE 3. ANTENNA MATCHING (tune 
slightly for maximum indicated output) 4. RECEIVER VOLUME 
5. RECEIVER INCREMENTAL TUNING (for SSB and CW) 6. SQUELCH 
(for VHF FM) 7. POWER ON-OFF 8. PUSH-TO-TALK 9. CW-PHONE. 


THE FREQUENCIES AND MODES OF OPERATION TO BE PROVIDED ARE: 

A. CW 500 and 512 KHZ and automatic keying of SOS and Auto 
Auto Alarm Signal for homing of rescue vessels and planes. 

B. CW on the following frequencies: 4181, 4183/6271.5, 
6274.5/12543, 12549/22228, 22238. 

C. USB on the follosing frequencies: 2182/4143.6/6218.6/ 
12429.2/22124. 

D. CW and SSB on the following frequencies: 7255/14313/ 
21390. 

E. FM on the following channels: 


CH-15 156.750 EPLRB and Shore to Ship. 

CH-16 156.800 Calling, EPIRB, Intership, Shore to Ship. 
CH-17 156.850 Intership and Shore to Ship 

CH-22 157.000 USCG units 

CH-71 156.575 Intership and Shore to Ship. 


The unit must be rugged enough to withstand testing on a 


weekly basis, which is required of all of a ship's survival 
equipment. 

It is recommended that a 12-volt heavy duty search light be 
maintained with the elements of the survival craft radio aboard 
the survival craft, the lamp to be operable from either the 
battery or the charger unit, and capable of being keyed for 
blinker service. 


as 


uns 
¥ 


WE CALLED HIM “RADIO REX” 

Gilson Vander Veer Willets - 22-SR. SGP became a silent key 
Jan. 7 1976. Radio Rex started VWOA in 1925. Prior to his 
passing he was the Society's First Historian and one of its 


CH-1 156.050 Intership Directors. Here we see him comparing the new against the old. 
CH-6 156.300 Intership search & rescue, USCG ships & 


planes. 


“BW” (Before Wireless) Many Perished on a Lonely Ocean 


PBDEs 30 PE 


Historical Drawing 


The four panels at the left depict 
the fate of shipwrecked passengers 
and crew before the days of wireless 
when survival depended upon the 
odds heavily stacked in the favor of 
fate that they would be seen or 
saved by some passing ship. 


This was the work of an amateur 
known as "Radio Rex", who just 
happened to be a Charter Member of 
the Society [ Senior Spark-Gap Pion- 
neer #22]. Rex lived some 30-miles 
from Santa Rosa on the Russian 
River in a beautifu rustic sylvan re- 
treat where a did some writting, 
sketching and made recordings. He 
also enjoyed his extensive stamp-col- 
lection. 


One of the life-long friends of 
Gilson V.M. Willets [ Radic Rex{ was 
Dr. Lee deForest and wife Maria 
who visited frequently -- to get awa\ 
from it all. 


Rex gave this drawing to the Society 
on the occasion of one trip your 
Editor made to his home in Villa- 
Grande in 1972. Rex said that the 
idea for the drawing came from a 
suggestion made by Dr. Lee de 
Forest. It therefore perhaps has a 
small bit of historical significance 
coming from the mind of one of the 
world's great inventors. 


Rex's first ship was in 1813 on the 
SS EL ORIENTE/KKV - thereafter 
many ships and stations. He was a 
columnist for Scripps-Howard and 
retired in 1948 due poor health. 


Digital Media © K2TQN 2012 


GME SPARKS JOURNAL 7-2 


QUE PASO en PUERTO RICO 


C) By CWO C.R, HARWOOD USCG 

SS oast Guard Radio Station "NMR" is located on 
La Puntilla in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico on a spit 
of land just beneath the four centuries-old city 
wall. Its purpose has varied little from the be- 
ginning as both a voice of command for the Coast 
Guard Commander Greater Antilles Section and as the 
distress and assistance station for the Caribbean 
Sea. The Radio Station is manned continuously with 


20 radio operators under the direction of a Commun-— 
ications Warrant Officer. 


When the Coast Guard and the lighthouse service were 
amalgamated in 1939 it became necessary to establish 
a District Primary Radio Station in Puerto Rico. 

A T-14 (MF) and a T-17 (HF) DeForest Wireless Tele- 
graph Co, transmitter were furnished and two oper- 
ating positions were installed utilizing CGR-352-2 
(RCA 60T) and R-100 Federal T&T receivers. The 

new station was first located in a small room in 

the Administration Building on the CG Base. 


At the outbreak of World War II. the station was 
expanded and moved next door to Building 2 where it 
remained until Dec. 1971. In addition, modern TAJ 
(MF), Collins' TCC-4 and TDH (HF-all modes) trans- 
mitters replaced the original equipment and by 1950 
the CGR 352-2s were replaced by Collins 51J4s and 
National HROs. 


It was during this period after the war that weather 
observations became important for trans—oceanic air 
travel and NMR was tasked with collecting the METEO 
messages from merchant vessels transmitting the 
Caribbean and Central Atlantic. Regular observa- 
tions were also relayed from Coastal stations Cur- 
acao/PJC, St. Maarten/PJD, St. Eustatius/PJE, North 
Post/VYL, La Guaira/YVG and Fort de France/FFP on 
working freqs of 466 and 128 kcs. It was also dur- 
ing this time that NMR had a good professional 


relationship with SWP member 'Dick' Schell, 1055-P 
and his busy Coastal station "WPR" in Guanica, P.R, 


Various proposals were made to move NMR out of down- 
town San Juan to a 'quieter' location and possibly 
consolidate it with the U.S. Navy but these were 


pie Aas 


tur wn first by the Vice CNO in 1944 and al- 
ternately by Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington 
and the 7th Coast Guard District Office in Miami 
about every 10 years thereafter until the present. 
Eventually a compromise was reached wherein the 
Navy would furnish certain transmitters to be re- 
moted back to San Juan, This worked out for much 
better maritime communications as the post war 
years brought a stepped-up exchange of traffic with 
the fixed and mobile stations throughout the area, 


When the AMVER (Automated Mutual-assistance Vessel 
Rescue) Program began in 1958, Radio San Juan was a 
‘Charter Member’ among the network of shore stations 
accepting movement reports and exchanging mutual as- 
sistance traffic with the maritime community, The 
station enjoys good reception on the higher fre- 
quencies and can protect delivery of AMVER traffic 
in the Caribbean, Eastern Atlantic south of Gibral- 
tar and the South Atlantic Oceans with some recent 
successes in the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf. 


On January, 1972, two important changes took place 
in the operations of NMR; first it was moved into 
its new 'home' in Building 5 with five modern po- 
sitions in individual sound-proof rooms equipped 
with the latest Collins 651S receivers and second, 
the AMVER working frequencies on 8 and 12 MHz were 
shifted to 8471 and 12700 KHz respectively and 16 
MHz guard was added with the answering frequency of 
17002.4 KHz. Other equipment was greatly improved 
too with the dedication of eight 10 KW transmitters 
located at the Navy Transmitting Facility in Isa- 
bela on the northwest coast of Puerto Rico. These 
are used on the 500/466 KHz band and the AMVER high 
freqs. In addition, the voice 2 Miz frequencies 
of 2182 and 2670 KHz have been included to better 
serve the public on voice (AM) for AMVER and dis- 
tress traffic. More recently the VHF-FM program 
has gotten underway and continuous guard on Channel 
16 (156.8 MHz) is maintained for distress and call- 
ing. Generally the range should be no less than 
20 miles offshore of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin 
Islands. Antennas are located atop 3 mountain 
peaks in P. R. and one on St. Thomas. 


Radio San Juan has grown proportionally with the 
maritime trade in the Caribbean and has boosted 

its services threefold with the advent of the AMVER 
Program, Recent statistics show NMR handling more 
'CW' message traffic than any other Coast Guard sta- 
tion in the world; making it, in the author's opin- 
ion, a true haven for "brass pounders." 


SSS OD SSS SS SS SS SS SS 


U.S. COAST GUARD BASE, SAN JUAN, P.R. CIRCA 1970 | C.R. HARWOOD 


BLUE PETER EDITION gage 


Back to Index 


BY GEORGE D.BROWN 1252 SGP 


The Great Lakes shipping season started out as normal in the 
spring of 1927, but after several trips to the upper lakes, the 
American Steamship Company laid up nearly their entire fleet 

at Buffalo, New York. 


This would have been my third year as radio operator aboard 
the steamer S.M. FBX, a 500-ft bulk cargo carrier, 
using a 4 KW spark transmitter. 


Because of my record, I had been given the job as ship keeper on 
this vessel at Buffalo. It was a very lonesome job, and when I 
read of a group who were trying to revive trade on the Upper 
Mississippi River and who were building several steam boats that 
were to be equipped with radio, I wrote for a job. 


These boats were being built by a banker named C.C. Webber and 
others for trade on the upper river. 


The Inland waterways was already operating a fleet on the lower 
river that had proved successful, but they had the water to 
build deeper draft boats. These upper river boats could oper- 
ate on a heavy dew. 


A telegram came back saying to report at once aboard the steamer 
C.C. Webber, WOBM, at Dubuque, Iowa. 


I was a bit apprehensive as to what kind of vessel might be 
used on the Upper Mississippi. 


It turned out to be a newly-built, typical steam-driven stern 
wheeler, 130 feet in length, 319 gross tons, with a fine radio 
room and the latest equipment. 


After some delay, we left Dubuque for Minneapolis for the trial 
run. Our traffic at first was sent on 1,100 meters to WZS, a 
2-KW arc transmitter at Ft. Snelling. Later, the company built 
a special building to house the 2-KW CW transmitter and a place 
for its operator to live. 


Eventually, the company built four identical steamboats: the 
Webber, the Thorpe, the Weeks, and the General Ashburn. 


This was apioneer attempt that proved successful. Small as they 
were, these boats carried a crew of about 20. The food was very 
good, and the pay better than average. 


Although called towboats, Mississippi River towboats do not tow 
barges, but rather push them in the same manner as they used to 
push "showboats", or rafts of logs. 


When the Webber was laid up at Dubuque in the winter of 1927, I 
was transferred to the steamer General Ashburn for a test of 
these small vessels on the lower river. 


Once while down-bound in December pushing several barges, we 
became icebound and had radio for help from the steamer Thorpe. 


While up-bound out of New Orleans in March of 1928, the Chief 
Engineer wanted to make a good showing, and eventually tampered 
with the safety valve, trying to beat "the record of the 
Robert E. Lee.” 


Digital Media © K2TQN 2012 


BLUE PETER EDITION ign 


The U. S. Army towboat is not just an experimental vessel. Masters, pilots 
and engineers have praised her service between Cincinnati and Pittsburgh. 


We had an explosion that blew off the cylinder of the port engine. 


It was late at night, and in my room over the engine room, it 
sounded like the end of the world—-except that the roar didn't 
stop. 


At first, I opened the door to the stairway leading down to the 
engine room, but quickly closed it again as the steam poured out. 


Next, I went to the pilot house, where I found that we were 
drifting down the river in the path of other vessels--a very 


dangerous situation. 


It was of no use to send out a call for help, since operators 
were all asleep, including those on oil tankers and other ocean 
vessels that used the lower river, 


In short time, the engineers succeeded in shutting off the ex- 
caping steam, 


We had drifted with the river for some time, when there appeared 
the lights of another up-bound river boat. In the darkness, we 
could make out the name, it was the steamer VICKSBURG, KDSC. 


As it passed, our pilot shouted, "Wake up your radio operator!" 


I then ran down to the radio room with a message asking for help. 
The Vicksburg responded promptly. 


She dropped her tow, raced down the river after us, lashed us 
alongside, then proceeded to take us up river along with the 
rest of her tow—-SOS, Mississippi River style! 


We used to carry guns, and target-practice on snags and other 
objects along the shore, At other times, we built kites and 
flew them while shoving tows. I never did use wire for the 
kites and tie it to the antenna, although I was tempted to... 


Things have changed since 1927. The Army has built many dams, 
and there is more traffic on the rivers today than on the lakes 
and oceans combined, in U.S. vessels, 


The upper river vessels later were turned over to the MISSIS- 
SIPPI-WARRIER Service (Inland Waterways) operated by the U.S. 
Army. A General Ashburn was in charge. 


Then, it was radio telegraph, but today it's radio telephone 
that keeps the vessels in touch with the office and each other. 


A recent book, Towboating on the Mississippi, by William J. 
Petersen, has an account of a trip he made on the Steamer C, C. 
Webber on August 5 - 8, 1928, from Dubuque to Minneapolis, at 


the time the writer was operator. It is a fine book, with many 
illustrations (ed, note: and it mentions George in there, too!). 


73's George. 


STEAMER DELTA QUEEN 


Back to Index 


mm SPARKS JOURNAL 7-2 


yD 


Ocean Wave 


life on the 


By Bill Deacon VE3BDO 


The second great thrill for me 
after receiving my first ship 
assignment was to receive my 
first deep-sea assignment. For 
some, of course, the two birds 
were killed with the same stone; 
but in my case, my first deep sea 
assignment was my third ship. 

| received a phone call from 
the Superintendent of the Cana- 
dian Marconi Co. five days after 
my eighteenth birthday, asking 
me in a casual tone (knowing 
very well what my reaction would 
be) if | felt | would like to join the 
SS Chief Capilano for a voyage to 
Shanghai departing the next day. 
I'm sure he was smiling at the 
other end of the phone at the 
excited and rapid affirmative re- 
sponse he received. No drug 
addict could experience the 
euphoric and elated state in 
which | existed for the next 24 
hours. | was going to the myste- 
rious Orient! | was going to that 
city so famed for its dens of in- 
iquity! | was going to cross the 
great, wide Pacific Ocean! | was 
going on the great adventure! 
What more could an 18 year-old 
ask for? 

The Chief Capilano was, at that 
time, the largest freighter afloat. 
It was owned by Melville Dollar at 
Vancouver, son of a very famous 
shipping magnate in the U.S., 
Robert Dollar, who, after World 
War 1 developed a fleet of ships 
into a round-the-world service 
that later became the President 
Line. Its flagship was the SS 
Robert Dollar, and this now was 


named the Chief Capilano. It was 
a 4-master, which was out of the 
ordinary — most vessels (apart 
from sail) being two-masters. 


This ship had been built in Ger- 
many, and was given to the U.S. 
as part of war reparations after 
Www. 

On the voyage which was 
about to commence, it carried 
what was, at that time, the largest 
load of grain ever shipped from 
Canada — 449,000 bushels. This 
was to be discharged at Shan- 
ghai, following which we were to 
proceed to Vladivostok to deliver 
the ship to the Russians, who had 
agreed to buy it from the Melville 
Dollar Co. 

On January 6th, 1931, SS Chief 
Capilano, gross tonnage 10,893, 
displacement tonnage 27,000, 
cast off her lines from the pier at 
Vancouver, manoeuvered in the 
harbour to point her bow for the 
First Narrows (now called the 
Lions’ Gate), and set off on 
voyage #13 Westbound to Shan- 
ghai. The Wireless room was effi- 
ciently manned by Chief Oper- 
ator A.S, (Art) Hudson and Junior 
Operator William (Bill) Deacon. 
Japanese marine law required 
that a ship of our tonnage pro- 
vide 24-hour radio coverage. The 
way to do this, it seemed, not- 
withstanding Board of Trade reg- 
ulations that provided for 4 hours 
on, 8 hours off per officer where 
24-hour coverage was required, 
was to have two operators work 6 
hours on, 6 off. Keeping in mind 
that one is not able to sleep a full 
6 hours in between watches, you 
can imagine what a drag it was to 
sleep in two 4-hour (more or less) 
snatches. 

The equipment was a 1% KW 
quenched gap transmitter — the 
most efficient of spark rigs. The 
receiver was a regenerative job 
with honeycomb wound coils for 
plate, grid and antenna circuits. 
The coils plugged in to each of 
three sockets on the front of the 
receiver, the two outer sockets 
being moveable through a hori- 
zontal arc. Regeneration was 
controlled by swinging the grid 
coil nearer to or farther away 
from the plate coil. In other 
words variable coupling in its 
most elementary form. Likewise, 
coupling to the antenna was 
accomplished by the same tech- 
nique. Through the use of plug- 
in coils, the receiver could cover 
from about 1.5 mhz to practically 
DC. 

The receiver operated on dry 
batteries — A batteries for the 
filaments and a B battery for the 
plates, This, of course, covered 
emergency requirements in 
addition to normal service. One 
thing to be said for battery opera- 
tion was that it eliminated the 
noise and drift that sometimes 
was experienced in using the 
ship's “mains”. 


SONOS SLBA ENO Ort ress 


Digital Media © K2TQN 2012 


ey e\ sree) 10\0/e\0 ese re 8/66 even 


Anyway, we are now heading 
through the Straits of Georgia to- 
wards Race Rock at the southern 
tip of Vancouver Island, where 
we drop off the pilot and proceed 
onward up the Straits of Juan de 
Fuca to meet the broad Pacific 
just off Cape Flattery 


As we sailed up the Straits, we 
found ourselves facing into a 
pretty good gale, and the ship 
began to pitch. This was most 
disconcerting to me, as my coast- 
ing trips thus far had been in 
relatively calm and sheltered 
waters. Now the deck was heav- 
ing up, down and around in a 
slow, deliberate motion. With 
each heave a wave of nausea 
surged through my miserable 
frame, and there was a tingling 
sensation around the hinge of 
the jaw-bone. Slowly, my enthu- 
siasm for deep-sea sailing was 
waning, and as we entered the 
Pacific into a moderate gale, with 
the ship pitching about with no 
regard for my physical sensitivi- 
ties, my desire for sailing dis- 
appeared entirely, along with 
part of my last meal. | fervently 
wished | could just ask the skip- 
per if he wouldn't mind returning 
and picking up some other Junior 
Operator with a more rugged 
constitution. | was certain | 
would be totally inoperative for 
the balance of this voyage. No 
greater misery has been endured 
than that of trying to conduct 
watch keeping in a small, stuffy 
cabin while one’s entire being is 
in revolt.at being forced to en- 
dure the slings and arrows of an 
angry North Pacific that has been 
disturbed by the gales indige- 
nous to that area. 

| existed on tea and half slice of 
toast for about 3 days, following 
which my frame decided that this 
stubborn rebellion was achieving 
nothing but further discomfort. 
Now my body decided that this 
sensation of whooping around 
in big seas had some degree of 
exhilaration, and it became a 
pleasure to stand on the lower 
bridge and feel the deck rising 
and falling like a high speed ele- 
vator under one’s feet. It also was 
a marvel to watch those massive 
seas moving in on the bow like 
liquid mountains. It always 
seemed incredible when in a 
trough to look up at the crest of 
an oncoming wave so unbeliev- 
ably high above one, so that it 
seemed impossible that the ship 
would not be totally swamped by 
the massive brute. The pitch of 
the ship and the wave-tops fre- 
quently got out of synch, at 
which time the bow would come 
down just as the wave-top was 
arriving. There would be a 
mighty flood of water over the 
forecastle, together with a great 
tremor throughout the hull that 
left the ship literally quivering for 
a few seconds, This is the kind of 
thing that springs rivets on a 
poorly constructed hull. 


Ready for shore 
in Shanghai harbour 


We now were headed on a 
great circle course for the Tsu- 
garu Straits that separate the Is- 
land of Honshu from the Island 


of Hokkaido. From there, we 
would proceed down through 
the Sea of Japan, past Korea, to 
Shanghai. The approximate dis- 
tance from Vancouver to the Tsu- 
garu Straits is of the order of 4000 
miles. Our course took us up just 
skirting the southern fringe of 
the Aleutian Islands. 


Watch keeping was very 
routine. Our own traffic was very 
light, discounting the press and 
weather reports we copied. The 
press was not formal traffic, and 
we copied it for the benefit of our 
crew of the 15 Causcasiens (offi- 
cers and engineers) on board. 
The majority of the crew was 
Chinese. Incidentally, this was a 
Hong Kong registered vessel; 
and its call sign was VPBL. We 
usually picked up noon position 
reports from vessels in the North 
Pacific for the information of the 
Bridge. Not only was it handy to 
know who may be on approx- 
imately the same route, but it was 
useful to receive the reports on 
winds and seas. If a ship were to 
be transmitting on CW in a heavy 
sea, one could hear the variation 
in frequency as the antenna/ 
ground capacity varied with the 
rolling of the vessel. 


Gale force winds continued 
throughout all but the last part of 
the crossing. The weather 
reached whole-gale conditions 
off the Aleutians, and we started 
to develop cracks in the sheer 
strakes. There was greal concern 
on the part of the Captain, Chief 
Officer and Chief Engineer over 
the risk of water entering into the 
holds and causing the grain to 
swell, That would have created a 
real crisis. In any case, the storm 
became so severe, and the risk of 
enlarging the cracks in the sheer 


strakes became of such great 
concern that we were hove to for 
over 24 hours. The ship was 
pitching so heavily that the 
screws were coming out of the 
water as the Stern rose. Conse- 


quently, if was necessary lor the 
engineer on watch to constantly 
ride the throttles of the two en- 
gines, backing off steam when 
the revs began to rise, and, of 
course, increasing throttle when 


BLUE PETER EDITION agp 


the screws were where they were 
supposed to be. At the same 
time, we in the radio room had to 
stow the chair under the desk 
and stand throughout the watch 
braced against the bulkheads. 
Sleep was very difficult, since we 
had to lie on our stomach with 
elbows braced against bulkhead 
and bunk-side to keep from 
being rolled out of the bunk. 


One morning, just before 
breakfast (| had just come off 
watch at 6 a.m.) | was sitting in 
the small “library’’ which was 
located immediately over the 
galley. In one heavy lurch of the 
ship, | heard a crash, followed by 
some frenzied utterances from 
the galley crew. | went down to 
the galley to see that our 2 case 
of eggs that was sitting ona table 
preparatory to cooking breakfast 
had fallen over; and the galley 
deck was a gooey mess of egg 
yolks and whites. All of the eggs 
were destroyed. Breakfast from 
then on was fried herring!! 
Perhaps | should have men- 
tioned earlier that the Company 
was in dire financial straits, and 
we had nothing lavish for our 
menus; and just enough food to 
get us to Shanghai. 


(Continued on Page 33) 


Back to Index 


SH SPARKS JOURNAL 7-2 B 


“SHANGHAI DOLLS" 


To add to the Captain's con- 
cerns, a Chinese fireman died 
from 3rd degree syphilis. We 
wanted to bury him at sea, but 
the crew would have none of 
that, since the dead man’s spiril 
could not get back through the 
water to China, Finally, the 
carpenter was allowed to put 
together a pine box; and this was 
placed on the poop deck for later 
disposition. Later on, we radioed 
ahead to our Shanghai agents to 
have a junk meet us in the Yang 
tze River before we got to 
quarantine so that the coffin 
could be off-loaded before we 
cleared Quarantine inspection 
In this way, all the fuss of clearing 
up the death to the satisfaction of 
the bureaucrats could be by- 
passed, 


Finally, on a cold january 
morning (temperature 25°F), the 
coast of Japan appeared on the 
horizon. It was a bright crisp 
clear day, and as we entered the 
Tsugaru Straits | was really taken 
with the beauty of that country. 
With a host of tiny mountains, it 
was like looking at the Rockies 
through the wrong end of a tele- 
scope. As we got closer to shore, 
we could see here and there on 
the hills one.of those shrine en- 
trances painted in bright red. 
You know the one that looks like 
a goal post with the cross bar ex- 
tending beyond the uprights. 
These were on the Island of Hok- 
kaido, where most of those big 
Sumo wrestlers come from. | 
understand that the northern 
Japanese are substantially bigger 
than their southern compatriots. 


The rest of the voyage to the 
Yangtze River was routine, but as 
we neared the quarantine station 
at Woosung, the fun (?) began. 


We met the junk we had re- 
quested, and the task of unload- 
ing the coffin started, Of course, 
we had to slow down to nearly a 
full stop, which made it very diffi- 
cult to steer the ship. Co- 
ordination (2) of the transfer was 
handled by our chief bos’n (a 
Chinese) and the captain of the 
junk, The Chinese are very inde- 
pendent people, and they much 
prefer to do things in their own 
way rather than be directed by 
some other ignoramus. This was 
the situation here. The bos‘'n and 
the captain couldn't agree on the 
procedures, and while all this 
hassling was going on, we were 
still sort of drifting slowly along 
and getting closer to the shore 
line. Finally, we ran aground ona 
sand bar, at which point the 
problem became very quickly 
settled and the junk moved off 
with its load. Meantime, we are 
very firmly aground, and our 
engines are not able to free us, 


We radioed our Shanghai 
agents to send a tug down SAP, 
and one showed up an hour or so 
later. The tow line was taken 
aboard, and the tug let out about 
1500 feet of cable before it started 
to take a pull. This put it right 
across the channel by which 
ships entered and left . the 


t Pus JT I JE 


Whangpoo River, on which 
Shanghai is situated. It is 
appropriate to note at this point 
that Shanghai in those days was 
the second busiest port in the 
world. Consequently, the tug 
would hardly start pulling before 
their would be a whistle blast 
from a ship going to or from 
Shanghai, so that the line would 
have to be slackened off, and the 
tug moved out of the way. After 
the passage of the ship, there was 
again the tedious process of tak- 
ing up the slack and moving into 
position for another pull. 


All the time that this was hap- 
pening, we could see a thick 
bank of yellow fog rolling slowly 
up the Yangtze toward us. By the 
time we finally were freed from 
the sandbar, the fog was en- 
veloping us, the end result being 
that we remained anchored at 
that spot for three days. | men- 
tioned earlier about the loss of 
the eggs and the weak financial 
position of the company. Food 
supplies had been calculated so 
tightly that, with the delay caused 
by the gales, we had very little 
food left; and we lived mainly on 
tinned kidneys for the 3 days at 
Woosung. Thank goodness | was 
raised in the English tradition and 
so liked kidney. We finally ar- 
rived at Shanghai on Feb. 1st, 
1931, tied up to #42 buoy for 
those who know Shanghai. For 
those who don’t it means that we 
were one heck of a way down the 
river from the big city, and we 
could only get ashore by hailing a 
sampan to take us to a nearby 
landing stage, where we would 
pick up a ficksha to carry on 


The trip from Woosung up to 
Shanghai on the Whanpoo River 
was intensely interesting, and 
those on the bridge had to be 
really alert. Traffic on that river al 
almost any time is like rush hour 
in big cities, the compacts and 
tractor-trailer rigs of the city 
being replaced by assorted sizes 
of junks, freighters, passenger 
and warships. Junks were the 
bane of a ship pilot's existence. A 
junk “captain” is very indepen- 
dent, and he will move to where 
it pleases him without any regard 
for protocol or consideration for 
other vessels. As a result, we had 


Digital Media © K2TQN 2012 


some close shaves with some ot 
these vessels — “close” meaning 
as near as 3 feet, One can't man- 
oeuvre a large vessel with the 
same ease as a large car 


Now the task started ol unload- 
ing the grain. It was destined fora 
mill on Soochow Creek, which 
was several miles away from our 
anchorage. The grain was bagged 
on board our ship, and then 
loaded into lighters alongside 
After about 6 lighters were 
loaded, they were towed away in 
one long string up to the mill. It 
was left to the lighter owner to 
skull his vessel all the way back to 
our ship to pick up his next load 


After about 2 days of discharg- 
ing, an argument broke out be- 
tween the checkers and some 
other stevedoring types (all 
Chinese) over procedures. This 
could not be resolved, so all 
walked off the ship in high 
dudgeon, and we were left to 
contemplate the banks of the 
Whangpoo in idleness. 


Another 2 days elapsed before 
the problem was resolved and 
work resumed. Then Chinese 
New Year arrived, and all work 
stopped for some 5 days of revel- 
ry or whatever the celebrants 
chose to do to welcome the new 
year, causing more idleness and 
frustration. 


This work having resumed, the 
lighter owners announced that 
they did not find it profitable to 
travel such long return trips from 
the flour mill, and until the Com- 
pany could find a spot closer to 
Soochow Creek, the lighter- 
men’s services would be with- 
held. Another few days delay en- 
sued until a dock could be found 
on the bank of the river opposite 
Honkgkew and much closer to 
the Creek. From then on, the 
only interruption to the opera- 
tion was a brief flurry one day 
when a “bagger’’ lay on the bot- 
tom of a hold smoking and fell 
asleep, setting fire to the bags 
and wheat chaff on the deck of 
the hold, so that heavy smoke 
started pouring out the hatch. It 
did no damage of any conse- 
quence, but it did create a bit of 
panic for a while until the nature 
of the fire had been identified. 


NEAR MISS IN HARBOUR HOUR RUSH 


NOLEN OLV Ose 


WILLIAM DEACON [Bill] 


As soon as we had entered 
port, Art’s and my jobs had 
finished until we left port again 
As aresult, | wanted to get ashore 
at the first opportunity to get my 
first look at one of the Orient’s 
most famous cities. Art and | set 
off in a sampan for the shore 
from our #42 buoy, and it was 
quite a shock to look back at the 
ship and see those big cracks In 
the sheerstrakes. | hadn't really 
appreciated how very serious our 
situation had been until now 


At the small quay at which we 
landed, there were 3 or4 rickshas 
waiting for passengers, so we 
selected two drivers and were on 
our way to the centre of Shan- 
ghai. It was a strange feeling to 
ride a ricksha for the first time — 
a feeling of great guilt at being 
pulled along by a human being 
whose feet were covered with 
thin straw sandals on this cold 
February day. He coughed and 
panted as he struggled along 
Yangtzepoo with his human 
load. It seemed very cruel in a 
way, yet this was the way things 
were, and if | were not to use 
him, he simply would lose that 
much revenue. | understand that 
the rickshas were rented daily. 
So the driver was much con- 
cerned about earning at least his 
rent, plus a few cents to exist on. 


At the end of the ride, we went 
through a routine that was to 
occur unfailingly every time we 
used one of these vehicles. The 
driver would complain, after 
being paid whatever we thought 
was reasonable, that either it was 
not enough or that the money 
was “brass”. The quickest way to 
end that argument was to take 
the money back and walk off, at 
which point the matter was 
quickly settled by paying him 
what you already had established 
as being fair. There were some 
established “rules” regarding 
the appropriate fare for the dis- 
tance travelled, and you earned 
no thanks or respect for anything 
substantially over that amount. It 
seemed to me that you simply got 
classified as a “patsy’’ on which 
the driver may then feel encour- 
aged to try some other smart 
tricks to get still more, It was at 
this time that Communism was 
just starting to stir up interest, 
and one of the favorite targets for 
them were “foreign devils”. 


TE TT 


TO ET IT OO I 


NOLINOLI OL NGL GLI NOLO OI VOLO LI NOL NOL NGL 


BLUE PETER EDITION gpg 


3490-P 


Art and | had a lunch (known 
there as “tiffin’) at the Asto 
Hotel on the bank of Soocho 
Crock in Hongkew. After the ver 
poor tood aboard, particularly 
the very poorly made bread, it 
was a great sensation to eat slic 
after slice of beautiful white 
crusty French bread with larg 
gobs of butter on it. We practical 
ly made an hors d'oeuvres of th 
bread alone. The waiter must o 
wondered what kind of weirdo 
we were, although | guess the 
were never very surprised at th 
pecadillos of the “foreig 
devils”. Anyway, the lunch put u 
in great shape for a cruise dow 
the Bund, which is a large avenu 
along the shore of the Whang 
poo, and which contains som 
fine big buildings, in which t 
house the more prosperou 
companies in Shanghai. To th 
best of my recollections, we then 
went along Nanking Road an 
visited a couple of large and well- 
known department stores. W: 
ended this tour with a visit t 
another large hotel for a coupl 
of snorts of Scotland’s finest. 


On either the first or second 
night of our arrival, agroup of the 
boys took me on a_long- 
promised tour of the seedy side 
of the city. Each of us had a rick- 
shaw, and we started out at a 
dance hall that was staffed by 
White Russian girls. The term 
“White” distinguished them 
from Reds”. In other words they 
were members of the Russian 
bourgeois who had escaped 
from Russia in the Communist 
takeover of the Czarist regime. 
They were, of course, hard press- 
ed for money, so some of the 
girls took to taxi-dancing to earn 
a living. Whether or not their ser- 
vices extended beyond that | did 
not explore. : 


After leaving that place, we 
were surprised to find that our 
ricksha boys had been waiting 
outside all this time, ready to take 
us to wherever else we planned 
to go. As we proceeded along, 
the places got seedier and 
seedier. Some of the women 
were in appalling condition both 
physically and in their dress. | 
remember watching with great 
disgust a fight breaking out be- 


(Continued on Page 34) 


Digital Media © K2TQN 2012 


Back to Index 


S873 SPARKS JOURNAL 7-2 BLUE PETER EDITION gm 


Bill Deacon, VE3 BDO 


(Continued trom Page 33) 


tween two seamen or firemen ot 
a British ship over the favors of a 
Russian woman whose hair was 
matted and dirty; whose face was 
a caked mixture of powder and 
dirt; and whose clothes would 
not be fit even for amop. While it 
was sickening to see, it was sad to 
later reflect on what situations or 
conditions brought her down to 
his level of human misery. After 
seeing this, and having in any 
case had more beer than | was 
used to, | announced that | 
would be only too happy to re- 
turn shipside. The boys agreed, 
and our fleet of rickshas pro- 
ceeded to a jetty where we could 
pick up a sampan to return to our 
anchorage. : 


twas a rainy night, and the five 
of us were under cover in the 
sampan, listening to the steady 
scrape of the scull in its lock. 
Eventually, | got curious and 
lifted the front hood of the sam- 
pan to check our progress. To my 
great shock, | found we were 
headed in another direction up a 
small canal. It was apparent that 
the sampan man had assessed 
our condition as being fit to be 
“rolled” by some of his friends. I 
had a blackjack up my sleeve, 
and | immediately dashed to the 
Stern flourishing the blackjack 
and ordering the man to proceed 
forthwith to the ship. The rest of 
that trip, needless to say, was 
conducted under close monitor- 
ing. That was enough for me of 
Shanghai's night life. They could 
have it!! 


| made several excursions 
ashore on my own during our 
stay in Shanghai. | always carried 
a small blackjack up my sleeve. 
This was used when a ricksha 
driver got a bit too rough about 
fare disagreements. It was only 
necessary to shake the blackjack 
out and look menacing with it to 
bring a rapid end to the argu- 
ment. 


On one shopping trip, | found 
an interesting curio shop, so | 
commenced negotiating tor a 
Pair of very interesting Carvings 
of old Chinese men. The eyes 
and teeth were ivory insets. The 
first asking price was $15 
(Chinese), and then the haggling 
Started. After my third trip out 
the door (I.had been called back 
with new offers before | was 
through the door on the first two 
moves), | was some 10 yards 
down the street when the shop 
keeper came running after me 
with a new offer, | got that lovely 
pair of carvings for $5, and he 
threw in a pair of silk lamp- 
shades. 


On that shopping trip | had not 
carried the blackjack, and | was 
about to return to the ship from 
away up town. Consequently, | 
was looking for a ricksha boy 
who didn’t look too tough to deal 
with. | was being pestered to 
death by scores of drivers who 
instantly recognized a stranger, 
and, hopefully, a sucker. | picked 
one who seemed to be OK and 
directed him to the jetty, This 
driver's sandals were really worn 
through, and he stopped several 
times on Yangtzepoo Road to 
pick things out of his feet. For 


A JT Jat JER JE Ya J) \ EAS ts en ee, Tn Dn ne 


some reason that | still cannot, 


HMS. EMPRESS OF RUSSIA - VGKW 


Member William Deacon [3490-P], Author of this article was Chief Radio Officer 


on the HMS Empress of Russia in 


Empress 
his radio career. 


also served at 3 land stations plus ground stations for Air Canada. 


1938, 


He also sailed on the Empress of Asia, 
of Canada,on the Canada - Orient Run and assigned many ships during 
First Ship assignment was the SS Princess Victoria/VCDS. He 


Deacon was 


in the Orient at the time of the invasion of China by the Japanese and came with- 


in 75 feet of being captured by a Japanese patrol in Hongkew. 


He played a 


successful role in 1949 in successfully persuading the British government to enter 
experiments with long range air-ground HF radio telephone with commericial Trans- 


Atlantic flights.. 


He has an amateur radio station with call VE3UD 


The HMS EMPRESS OF RUSSIA pictured above was one of the first liners to have 


a cruiser stern. 
March 1913. 


Line in the trans-Pacific service. 


This ship was built at Goven, Scotland and went into service in 
For most of her years, she was operated by the Canadian Pacific 
She was refitted as a troop transport early in 


World War One, and though chiefly engaged in carrying Canadian troops, occasionally 
sea-lifted U.S. Troops. This is how we received this picture as it was donated to 
the Society by Member Harold R. Barger who made the trip during WW1 as a "Gi" 


to Europe but returned on the Olympic. 


of about 2820 officers and men. 


During World War Two, The “Empress” again did service as a trooper. 


The ship had a troop-carrying capacity 


Her sailings 


being carried out under the direction of the British Ministry of War Transport. She 
was ruined by fire while refitting at the Vickers-Armstrong yard, in England. This 
happened in Sept. 1945; in 1946 she was broken up for her scrap metal. 


She had an overall length of 590 feet and a 68-foot beam. The Empress of Russia 


had a gross tonnage of 16,810. 


She had a steam-turbine drive and four propellers. 


An extremely fash ship, she once held the east-bound trans-Pacific record of 8 days 


18 hours, and was rated at 20 knots [ 23.02 m.p.s.] 


The Empress of Asia, an 


identical sister ship, was caught by Japanese aircraft off Singapore in February 1942 
and sent to the bottom with a heavy loss of life. 


fathom, each time he did this 
people walking along the side of 
the road would close in on the 
ricksha. With some fear | kept 
urging the boy to go “chop 
chop”, and he would look back 
at me with a withering stare of 
scorn, then slowly pick up the 
shafts and carry on. 


When we arrived at the jetty, | 
piled my parcels under one arm 
and felt through my pocket for 
the appropriate payment of 40 
cents. He put this in his pocket 
and spoke to me sharply and 
menacingly in his own language. 


| didn’t know the words, but I got 
the drift. Being a very stubborn 
man, | had no intention of giving 
in to him if | could at all avoid it, 
so | brushed him aside and 
headed toward a sampan at the 
edge of the jetty. The ricksha 
driver darted around in front of 
me and bunted me backward 
with his chest, obviously hostile 
words being hurled at me simul- 
taneously. | tried the same man- 
oeuvre again with the same re- 
sult. A group of about 5 other 
Chinese were a few feet away 
watching this with great interest. 
| looked over to them and asked 
“Can anyone here speak Eng- 
lish?” - NO response. More 
pushing and shoving ensued, 
and | didn’t want to put the par- 
cels down and threaten the rick- 


sha driver with fists, 
would simply have picked up the 
parcels and dashed off. | called to 
the group once again, and one 
man came over and announced 
in fairly good style that he could 
indeed speak English, | said: 
“Ask him what he wants”. The 
response was that the driver 
hadn't been paid enough and 
wanted more. | said ‘Tell him I've 
spent all my money on these par- 
cels”. The driver pointed to one 
of my pockets and chattered out 
something. The interpreter said 
“He wants to know how much 
you have in that pocket’, That 
pocket was bulging with some 
paper money and some Mexican 
silver dollars. | reached in and 
pulled out what | thought was a 
50 cent "shin plaster’ and stated 
that that was all | had and that t 
needed it for the sampan. The 
instant my hand brought torth 
the 50 cents, the driver snatched 
it from my hand and picked up 
his shafts and was off 


Now | got into the sampan and 
ordered the man to proceed 
shipside. He pulled the usual 
stunt of asking for payment first. 
This is a favorite manoeuvre. Af- 
ter taking the payment and get- 
ting well away from the shore, he 
would announce that he wanted 
more money, otherwise he 
wouldn't move. The experienced 
traveller knows enough to with- 


since he 


WAB. 


hold any payment until arrival. 
wanted no more nonsense, and, 
being on the boat, | could lay the 
parcels down, go up to the man 
and threaten him with my fist un- 
less he proceeded. He gave up 
quickly and we terminated that 
little jaunt with a Safe arrival plus 
mutterings of discontent from 
the sampan man over his fare. To 
heck with it , | was sale on 
board. 


When we were at the dock in 
Pootung, many kids used to 
gather along the dockside and 
plead for money of “cumsha’ 
One of our favorite pastimes be- 
came to change a couple of dollar 
bills into pennies, then stand at 
the rail and toss them overboard 
one at a time, and watch the 
scurry and flurry while the kids 
garnered their harvest. In short 
order, an individual would 
appear on the scene with a char- 


coal brazier on one end of this 
pole and a container of other 
things at the other end. Very 
soon he would have the brazier 
in operation and would have 
some kind of batter frying in ol 
over the fire. The kids, of Course 
had a ball buying all that good 
stuff at the expense of the nck 


“torergn devils” 


Word got around that the 
Russian sale of the shy was 
cancelled. so that we 


LEAS Server 


NOL NOLO NO Os 


were lo 


We wish to thank the Canadian 
Amateur Magazine "ICA" for per- 
wission to reprint the story of 
Bill Deacon - SOWP Member. The 
QTH of "ICA" is P.0. Box 356 
Kingston, Ontario, Canada k7 
4W2. ="TCA" by the way is a 
very fine publication which you 
sight enjoy. It is slanted to- 


ward the Canadian Amateurs but 
contains a lot of oP reading. 


return to Sebcouves: in the 
meantime, doubling plates had 
been riveted over the four cracks 
in the sheerstrakes. The dou- 
bling plates looked rather inade- 
quate, being about 1 inch thick 
and about 3 ft by 1 ft in size. Any- 
way, we finished our discharging 
on Feb. 28th and sailed the next 
day to a Japanese coaling port of 
Nishi-Karatsu, somewhat north 
of Nagasaki on Japan’s west 
coast. We had burned oil on the 
way out, bul since we were re- 
turning “light ship”, and since 
coal was much more economical, 
and also there was no urgency 
about our return, it was decided 
to use coal. No additional fire- 
men were hired for the coal op- 
eration because we wouldn't be 
operating at full speed (13 knots). 


We anchored at Nishi-Karatsu, 
and then lighters full of coal were 
towed alongside. A human esca- 
lator of japanese men and 
women in black garments estab- 
lished itself from the lighter to 
coaling chute in the side of the 
ship. Small wicker baskets were 
loaded with coal at the lighter 
and passed from person to per- 
son in acontinually flowing chain 
to be dumped into the chute. 
That is, the coal was dumped and 
the baskets tossed down to the 
deck of the lighter. This went on 
for lighter after lighter through- 
out the day, with only a break for 
food. As soon as the coaling was 
finished, we lifted anchors and 
were on our way back to Van- 
couver. 


A day alter we had left Japan, 
we received a message from the 
owner advising that it was im- 
perative we reach Vancouver by 
March 16th to pick up another 


load of grain. Otherwise we 
would lose the contract. This 
called for more speed, hence 
more steam, hence more coal- 
shovelling. Since we did not have 


2 tull tiring staff on board, this 
placed a great strain on the en- 
xine room crew, and there were 
some threats of mutiny. | don't 
know how the problem was re- 
solved, but we did get more 
speed. 


In the meantime, another gale 
sprung up around us, and the 
ship with its patched sheer- 
strakes took another pounding. 
There was great concern now 
over how we would stand up to 
the pounding at the speed at 
which we were operating, Any- 
way, the gale abated and we con- 
tinued on to Vancouver without 
further ado, arriving as ordered 
on March 16th, 1931. 


I was asked to remain signed 
on for the next voyage, but | felt 
that there were better ways to 
live than on that miserable, 
underfed ship. Two of its sister 
ships had gone to the bottom in 
the North Pacific, and | couldn't 
help but feel that the Company's 
luck was running a bit thin. 1931 
was a tough year for a junior 
operator like me, the depression 
being in full swing, etc., but | pre- 
ferred that to a rather tenuous 
future on the Chief Capilano 


| was not able to follow its sub- 
sequent history closely, but | do 
know that it was sold to Philip- 
pine interests and renamed the 
Don Jose. | did see it once in 
Hong Kong some years later 
looking much the worse for 
wear. oases 30 cesses 


Wy ey 


Digital Media © K2TQN 2012 


Back to Index 


MES SPARKS JOURNAL 7-2 


_ BLUE PETER EDITION ye 


THE VOICE"THE NIGHT 
Croan «Lure /Vask 


Reprinted from Wireless Age — April 1914 


Then | hear his fingers, more composed, 
Begin to spell out sense; 
And the cool and steady signals 


IVe're two nights out from England. 
And steaming fast for home, 
But in the head "phones on my ears 


No messages wmtone. 

For awful is the scourge of war, 
When proud and mighty ships 
Must steal about with voices stilled, 

Like thieves with silent lips. 


Missing the cheery buzz of traf’. 
I cuss the lagging clock ; 

{ nod; and doze .. . When sudden come: 
A rude and chilling shock! 

The hum and drone of a distant spark 
Pounds hard with nervous stress. 
The call that chills the heart to stone— 
The heseeching S O S. 


\ shivering, creeping chill I feel, 
That comes with the silent Fear; 
| straighten, tense upon my chair, 
Pressing "phones to the list’ning ear 
For he’s many, many miles away, 
And his spark is almost drowned ; 
He sounds a call . . . and silence then 
Succeeds the awful sound. 


I hope with all my power to hope 
In that silence so profound; 
And, barely breathing, reach the switch 
When my hand drops quickly down, 
As in my receiver comes a buzz: 
“I'm K S F, hard by.” 
And he begins to whisper queries 
To that lone, despairing cry. 


More silence then, for moments long, 
While dread gnaws at the heart, 

But again through the ether spaces 
The S O S calls dart. 


Who Decided and Why 


BY= DONALD K. DE NEUF 


What was the rationale behind deciding on sixty cycles (Hertz) as 
a frequency for commercial AC power? Why not sixty-five, or 
eighty or a hundred? Some years ago parts of the Los Angeles 
area employed fifty cycles. There were AC “Telechron" clocks 
then in existence. What happened to them when the frequency 
was eventually standardized at 60Hz? Did everybody simply have 
to buy new clocks, or did the utility company replace them, 
maybe free? (For many years the lights in the New York City 
subways operated from a 25 cycle source - and visibly flickered. 
And, there used to be a lot of DC in the city. Presumably this 
harked back to Edison's early power plants, and since most of 
the old elevators were DC operated, the source was probably con- 
tinued for a rather long period of time). But why 110 volts as 
a national power standard? Why not 100 or 150 volts? Incident- 
ally, most commercial aircraft today employ 400 Hertz power - | 
suppose the transformers are lighter in weight for one thing. 


On audio disc records, why was a speed of 78 RPM adopted? Why 
not 70 or 80 RPM? Why the 33-1/3 RPM speed for modern LP 
records? Why not 30 or 40 RPM? Was there some reason related 
to such speed as one third of 100 RPM or something? 


Why was 35 mm chosen for motion picture film? Why 357 


On TV standards world-wise, there are several different systems - 
our NTSC, BBC, PAL, and SECAM. There used to be a joke 
amongst TV engineers that PAL stood for "Pay and Learn", and 
that SECAM really meant "Supreme Effort to Counter American 
Methods". They said our NTSC signified "Never Twice the Same 
Color". (What an electronic nightmare on inter-country program 
exchanges! As bad as the old Australian railroads with three 
different guages!) 


TV and FM broadcasting in the UK utilizes (or did use) vertical 
polarization (the vertical antennae on homes displayed this), 
whereas in the US and many other places horizontal polarization 
is employed. | seem to vaquely recall that in the early FM/TV 
days the FCC decreed horizontal polarization because, they said, 
it was less vulnerable than vertical to man-made noise - auto- 
mobile ignition, brush motors, etc. 


The international standard of 500 Khz (600 meters) for marine 
distress calls has been in existence for many years. | never knew 
why this particular frequency was chosen until | read somewhere 
that in the early days of spark 600 meters came close to reson- 
ance matching for the length of an antenna stretched between 
the masts of the average sized seagoing vessel. 


No doubt there are good answers to the foregoing questions hid- 
den somewhere. Comments from readers are solicited - as well 


Lift a world-load of suspense. 


He's in the Bay of Biscay, 
Just where, he can hardly state; 

But the ship seems badly wounded, 
And he implores us all to wait. 

So I turn and ‘phone to the pilot-house. 
And tell them all I know. 

‘God help them!” breathes the officer, 
“No use for us to go.” 


“We couldn't, had we twice the speed, 
Get over in a day; 

The distance that’s between us— 
Nine hundred miles, I’d say.” 

Just then that spark zit-zits again: 
‘Tis a wireless false alarm! 

The ship’s wound he thought was mortal 
Has done but little harm. 


“We're all right now,” comes the report, 
“To Vigo we'll proceed. 

But thanks, old man on the K S F, 
For standing by in need. . .” 

Then the ether filled with buzzing sound 
Slips eetty to rest, 

And the Kroonland, good old rescue ship, 
Plows steadily toward the West. 


We're two nights out from England, 
And steaming fast for home, 

But in the head ’phones on my ears 
No messages intone. 

For awful is the scourge of war, 
When proud and mighty ships 

Must steal about with voices stilled, 
Like thieves with silent lips. 


“ESP” Alerts Operator to SOS 


By Leslie B. Veader 934-P 


6. Aug. 25, 1925, while serving as wireless of- 
ficer on the tanker SS CHARLES PRATT (KSQ) the fol- 


lowing incidents were experienced, 


In order to receive NBA, NSS, NPM, etc,, on long 
wave I like many other carried a set of three honey 
These were wired into the 106B re- 
ceiver and having no switch it was necessary to con- 
nect them each day and remove them after reception, 


comb coils. 


After press at 11 p.m. on Aug. 23, 1925, when we 
were off Cape San Lazaro, Cal., I was so tired that 
it was imperative that I get to bed immediately. 


As I lay in bed it was impossible for me to sleep as 
something kept saying, "Go back and activate that 
receiver as it is inoperative and an emergency might 


occur. 


This condition continued and at 3 a.m. being wide 
awake I proceeded to the radio room and reconnected 
the 106B to the 600 meter band whereupon I received 
an SOS very loud and apparently close at hand, 


I answered the call of the SS DAKOTAN and after ob- 


taining his T R awoke the Captain. 


We were just 30 miles north of the DAKOTAN and would 
arrive in three hours. Upon arrival we were unable 
to free the ship from the beach, but held her steady 
and between us she was floated, 


As we approached the Florida coast the press report- 
ed that seven US destroyers had gone aground on the 
Same approximate position thereby indicating a 
strong current had set them all on the beach in 
bright moonlight. 


Over the years I have had other incidents where ESP 
surely was present and by today's standards of 
thinking I'm sure it has some merit. 


ONE NENG OLE GL NEL NGL NOL SOLS LI NOE SBE BE OI BE SBE NOL BE BNO ONES 


OL NL RL RAR NOL Rs Orr Oe 


Back to Index 


SER SPARKS JOURNAL 7-24 


“Observations” 


50 Years as a ‘‘Pro.”’ 
1111-P 


THE HERITAGE OF 


EDITORIAL COMMENT 


The Author of the following article has been going to 
sea as a Radio-Officer for over fifty years. He has 
been a keen observer of the transition of ship com- 
munication systems and modes over the years. Like- 
wise, he has kept informed of matters that concer and 
effect the Radio Officers in their daily life aboard ship 
or on their assigned stations. We think he has the 
ability to present his views and perspective in a very 
interesting manner. 


The Society on many occasions, has indicated that 
stories and articles contributed by members or others 
do not necessarily reflect Society endorsement of 
opinions or views expressed, which we think is very 
understandable. Author "Jock" Maclaren started his 
career in 1924 on the SS PATIA/GDCY. He has been 
going to sea steady every since. His views and in- 
sight into many matters concerning radio men should 
be of considerable interest, especially to us indigent 
operators who signed on at the magnificent salary of 
$30.00 per month. 


4n all paths of human endeavour there eventually 
will come a time when some interested or misguided 
individual must inevitably stick their neck out and 
thereby invite the axe which prepares the proverbial 
chicken for the pot. Why does one do this? Be- 
cause, I venture to say, somewhere in our lLong-suf- 
fering innards a seething cauldron of resentment is 
a'simmering and a'boiling . . . in this same "caul- 
dron" was boiled the brew which runneth over and 
made history as the well-—mashed Boston Tea Party; 
which splashed over its brim and flowed as the French 
Revolution; which bubbles and steams and causes men 
to take a well~aimed poke at their immediate super- 
ior and damn the consequences. 


For better or worse, as the saying goes, I shall now 
join the ranks (in a small way, one might say) as 
one of those whose cauldron of resentment approached 
boiling-point. I shall now unburden myself by writ- 
ing about Radio Officers who belittle their own pro- 
fession, Radio Officers whose interest in Radio died 
the death on the day they obtained their original 
license, and Radio Officers who use a Union's good 
services for employment when, if, and maybe, it is 
convenient to their many other interests to "take a 
trip" as a Radio Officer on board ship. If this is 
heresy, so be it... 


It would be only fair to start by recording the fact 
that I have worked as Radio Officer on board merchant 
ships flying the flags of Great Britain, Honduras, 
Panama, and the United States for the past 50-odd 
years. I was born in Hull, Yorkshire, England, my 
father was a Scotsman, my mother Swedish. I landed 
in the United States in February, 1958, As I look 
upon-~and still look upon--the decision of changing 
one's country and citizenship as a very serious, very 
personal decision, it took me fourteen years consid- 
eration before I became a full United States citizen. 


I worked thirteen years as Wireless Officer for the 
Marconi International Marine Communication Co., Ltd., 
of London (later called the British Wireless Marine 
Service following the amalgamation with the Radio 


COUR TEN PE TE TN TN Ta US TE TE Pa Tm a J JO TOS TR SRN TSN TEN JES TR Sa TR TORN TRS TERS TE Tie FE JE (36 zw Jim Faas JOIN SE. Ja 70 


Digital Media © K2TQN 2012 


BLUE PETER EDITION gg 


A PROUD SOCIETY 


Communications Co., of London.) I worked for the 
United Fruit & 5.5. Co., Boston, Mass., as Radio 
Officer for eleven years. Throughout the World War 
II I was at sea. I have now sailed close to 20 
years as Radio Officer with the Mississippi S.5. Co., 
of New Orleans, La., now known as Delta Steamship 
Lines, Inc, I possess the F.C,.C. First Class Ra- 
diotelegraph License, First Class F.C.C. Radiotele- 
phone License, the F.C.C. Radar Endorsement; I com- 
pleted the U.S. Maritime Institute Radio Theory 
Course and, if of any interest, I also possess the 
British First Class Postmaster General's Radiotele- 
graph/Radiotelephone Certificate (invalidated by 
U.S. Citizenship), a Panama Government Radiotele- 
graph Certificado and a Honduran Radiotelegraph Cer- 
tificado, I am a Radio Amateur, a member of the 
A.R.R.L., with their official code-speed certificate 
for 55 words per minute, (Amateur call-signal is 
W5FGO). 


I offer the above information only to suggest that 
when I discuss the shipboard Radio Officer and his 
work I must to some extent know whereof I speak, 

You may now plug-in your electronic grindstones and 
ea axes in preparation for my early decapita— 
tion 


When, how, and from where, I ask you, did Radio 
Officer adopt the unbelievably silly mental wvertnae 
which causes a man to belittle his own job? What ~ 
is unworthy or "lowering" about working for one's 
livelihood in the service of the U.S. Merchant Mar- 
ine? What is so wrong about making a career of go- 
ing to sea as a Radio Officer in the U.S. Merchant 
Marine? What is wrong or derogatory in staying-on 
with and doing any honest job? 


These are the questions which raise themselves in my 
mind when I hear my life-long job as Radio Officer 
belittled and even ridiculed by those misinformed 

or those willfully, maliciously, or merely thought- 
lessly intent on destroying the repute of a group of 
men who pioneered and brought into our existence on 
earth a New Age of world-wide communication, 


That is no exaggeration of the facts. The ship- 
board Wireless Operator was indeed a pioneer in the 
development of what we now know as Radio. Some of 
the earliest experiments in "wireless telegraphy" 
were shared in no small measure by the merchant 
ship's operator, known then as a Marconi Operator, 
or "Wireless men," 


In those days--even while I have been going to sea-- 
the “wireless operator" was considered something of 
a ridiculous figure, a gawkish and unwanted inter- 
loper upon the jealous hearth of shipboard family 
life. We took many a slight, many a verbal slap 
and ill-meant jibe before we won our spurs, so to 
speak, We have since become a grudgingly but re- 
spected and accepted part in the high tradition of 
the sea ‘nd ships. "Sparks" we were named, and the 
name was, not given in ridicule—we had earned it the 
hard way. 


The Radio Officer today owes a heavy debt to those 
lonely, isolated men who tinkered, cursed, and tink- 
ered some more far out at sea to make their primi- 
tive “wireless apparatus" work when it would not 
work, From their much-laughed at efforts was laid 
the foundation upon which was erected the house in 
which we Radio Officers live today. Those men were 
the Founding Fathers of our Radio Officer's job. 
They created our job, confirmed it, and made it stick 
as a job. Not only that, they were also the small, 
embryonic nucleus which many years later was to grow 


Back to Index 


MEM SPARKS JOURNAL 7-2 


and develop into the Electronic Age, which, in its 
turn, is now tip—toeing into the dizzying world of 
Atomic Energy. From small beginnings... 


It is a good thing, sometimes, in these days of skep- 
ticism and cynicism, to look back. For while look- 
ing back, we might indeed wonder whether or not we 
of Today are worthy of the heritage left to us by 
the men of Yesterday. I still believe we are worthy 
of that heritage. It is the occasional individual 
who casts the shadow of doubt across my mind, the 
individual who speaks thoughtlessly, lives thought- 
lessly, acts carelessly, and works carelessly. This 
individual and his mental attitude toward Life, Liv- 
ing, and his Work, can, and does, wreck the struc- 
ture which others gone before struggled so mightily 
to build. 


The Marconi Operator begat the Wireless Operator, 
who begat the Wireless Officer, who begat the Radio 
Operator, who begat the Radio Officer . .. a title 
wherein lies hidden many an unknown struggle, many 
a bitter fight for recognition, many a heroic death, 


I am not in any way trying to prove or sell the Ra- 
dio Officer's job as the most important or glamorous 
job on earth, or that we as a group carry the destiny 
of the world on our shoulders, It isn't, and we 
don't. I am reiterating, however, in a few brief 
sentences, that our heritage and reputation as a 
group of skilled men is not by any means a legacy to 
be lightly cast aside. To the contrary, if I may 
be old-fashioned and stuffy for a moment, I would 
say that the Radio Officer today should be justi- 
fiably proud of his work, his position on board ship. 
and his job. I would like to add here, however, 
that the Radio Officer should not at any time get 
the idea that he alone on his ship has been blessed 
with a modicum of intelligence. The Radio Officer 
is a seaman, among seamen, he lives as an essential 
part in the world of seamen and ships, and, in so 
doing, he is properly justified in occupying his 
proven place in the high traditions of the sea. He 
is not justified in being a prig. You could, if it 
pleases you, apply this last not-too-clever state- 
ment to any person of any group, in any walk of Life, 
upon any level of social strata, and it will stand-—— 
no person is justified or even entitled to become 

' the * « « especially within the narrow confines 
of shipboard life. 


In my voluntarily adopted country of our United 
States of America, one of the greater privileges of 
living is the privilege of becoming a drunk or a di- 
rector, a punk or a president. It is up to you to 
make the choice. Happily, the large majority of 
Americans historically have made the proper choice, 
proving, to the consternation of Old World thinking, 
that the individual human being, left to his own de- 
vices and living in a free and tolerant society, 
does, has, and will attain to the higher plane of 
human living on earth... 


You do not have to be a Radio Officer. You can be 
anything your God-given talent and native intelli- 
gence says you can be. We cannot all--not even in 
the United States of America!-—-succeed in becoming 
captains of industry, millionaires, bank presidents, 
or what have you. Let's face it! Most of us 
merely drift into something, or one thing after an- 
other, for no really thought-out reason; some Like 
the quiet life, some like the here-—today-—gone-to- 
morrow life, some live in a continuous state of tur- 
moil and get along well enough. It's up to you, 
OM--you looks ‘em over an' you takes your pick... 


If you should, for any reason or desire whatsoever, 
become or have become a Radio Officer in the U. S. 
Merchant Marine, then I, as an old timer, hasten to 
assure you that you have chosen a good and worthy 
job of work, and, in addition, you have joined an 
international fraternity of quiet and friendly men 
rare indeed to this frantic Age of Man, If you 
choose, or "drift" into make a career of "going to 
sea" as a Radio Officer, with all its many sacri- 
fices, its loneliness, monotony, its moments of 
peril, its advantages and disadvantages, we will wel- 
come you and wish you Godspeed and good sailing ... 


In any group of specialized working-man, it is but 

human and very natural that within that group there 
will always be found individual members more expert 
and adept in their specialized work than other mem- 
bers, Our own group, specializing in marine radio 


CERN JOR YEN YEN YEN PRIN Yee YET URN JER SEN SERN JOM POY JOC DEK JAR PEK Pe DEON JN JAK JENN JEN Pea SEK JENN Jae Jan JET Jeet IT 


Pam Mies Mee ied Se NE SEC NSE SEES a NS Nea ees Es Sey Ses Nie ed NSE NE NEMS? yt Nt Ns ty MG Gr 


Digital Media © K2TQN 2012 


BLUE PETER EDITION ‘gry 


communication and its appropriate equipment, is no 
exception to this rule. Some of us found the mys- 
tery of Radio in theory and practice—-and still do! 
--an illusive and difficult mystery to understand, 
Some of us found this same mystery comparatively 
easy to understand, A few of us found the mystery 
was happily and clearly right up our alley and mere 
ducksoup. I was not one of the Last-mentioned 
lucky ones! My Scottish and Swedish ancestors, 
however, have given me the proverbial stubbornness 
of the mule and I am at last able to boast of know- 
ing the positive and negative ends of a battery, 
that electricity can kill a guy, etc. 


I "came in" when vacuum tubes (wireless valves, the 
Limeys called them) were in their infancy and not 
quite to be trusted. I sailed on a number of Brit- 
ish merchant ships equipped with the following an- 
tique furniture: 1% KW, “Kw, or 4KW Marconi Rotary 
Spark Gap main transmitter, a 10-inch Induction Coil 
Emergency Transmitter, and the Marconi 31-A Balanced 
Crystal Receiver. Later we proudly hammered on the 
Marconi 1%4KW Quenched Gap transmitter which at times 
would pump a good 15 amperes into the antenna and 
swamp a receiver's dial over an arc of 350 degrees 

of tuning-scale! There was no such thing in our 
vocabulary as the word "frequency." We used wave- 
lengths. We called, worked traffic, TR'd and han- 
dled most everything on 600 meters--500 kilocycles 
to you, Time signals, etc., were obtained when- 
and-if from GBR (Rugby, England), 18,740 meters; 

FYL (Bordeaux, Rpaise: 19,100 meters; POZ (Nauen, 
Germany), 18,626 meters—-if my memory isn't at fault. 
Traffic was mostly sent via the nearest coast sta- 
tion wherever one's ship happened to be, and for- 
warded via the cable routes around the world. The 
Amateur Radio fans at that time were on the eve of 
discovering the communication possibilities of the 
"short waves" which the grey—beards of radio had 
pooh-poohed as impractical for long-distance com- 
munication! 


Since those days “wireless” has become Radio. The 
field of Radio moved so rapidly ahead that the First 
Class Certificate of Proficiency in Wireless Tele- 
graphy as issued after examination to British wire- 
less operators by the Office of the Postmaster Gen- 
eral in London, was re-called and re-issued as Sec- 
ond Class under a new ruling adopted following the 
1952 International Telecommnication Convention held 
in Madrid, Spain, This cancellation of our First 
Class "tickets" told us in no uncertain terms that 
our previous knowledge of Radio was considered in- 
sufficient and lacking when faced by the rapid tech- 
nical advances being made, We were to get on the 
ball and learn our Radio again, or else... 


Well, we done larned it. We began to look askant 
at the men who continued to sail on a Second Class 
Certificate, and, I think, it was right that we did 
so. It meant clearly only one thing: Lack of in- 
terest in becoming as expert as possible in their 
work, In the old and now defunct A. W. C. T. of 
Great Britain (the Association of Wireless and Cable 
Telegraphists), most of us agreed that it was essen- 
tial that our comparatively small membership of sea- 
going Wireless Operators should endeavour to be as 
expert and up-to-date in our specialized field as 
individually possible. This was, and always is to 
any group, a very ambitious goal to aim at. But 
the idea is to keep on aiming at it for the good of 
the group as a whole, 


You may be wondering what this resume touching on 
the “good old days" (you can have them!) is leading 
up to. I will tell you. There are Radio Officers 
among us today whose interest in Radio had dwindled 
to the point where at times they must call in their 
ship's electrician or somebody else to “help them 
out" to repair simple breakdowns of the ship's radio 
equipment, There are other Radio Officers who to- 
day are still sailing on their Second Class F.C.C. 
License long after they have satisfied the "six 
months" and “one year's" sea service requirements. 


The parallel is clearly drawn and repeated, What 
took place in the early 1930's is taking place again, 
and it's bad medicine, 


I do not in any way suggest that we should join the 
crackpot ranks of the perfectionist, or take our 
Radio Officer's job so seriously that we lose our 
sense of humour and tolerance, But I cannot stress 
too strongly that the standard set by the individual 


(37) SLO OL NINO NOL NOL NOL LNT OL NOLO OL OLE OL OL NOL OL OLE PL OL OL OE EL LO OS 


Back to Index 


mm SPARKS JOURNAL 7-2 


Radio Officer will inevitably be the standard tagged 
upon all Radio Officers. The sum integrity of the 
community rests upon the unit integrity of the in- 
dividual, so to speak. We all understand this. 

To not understand it is dangerous to our hard-won 
reputation, our traditionally accepted high standard 
as a group of skilled men, Fellows, Let's keep it 
high. The Radio Officer's job is well worth the 
effort, and the effort will pay us dividends which, 
although mostly invisible, are nonetheless very im- 
portant to us. 


The number of Radio Officers' jobs available at any 
time depends directly upon the number of merchant 
ships in active operation and "going to sea." We 
are all aware of this fact. In recent years we 
have had a greater number of Radio Officers than 
ships for them to work on. We are also all aware 
of this fact. This situation, in plain truth, is 
caused by the obvious fact that we have more Radio 
Officers on our Union membership than there are jobs 
for them, 


This above unfortunate unbalance between too many 
members and too few jobs develops a highly sensi- 
tive mix-up; on one side those of us who have jobs, 
on the other side those of us who do not have jobs. 
The mix-up was inevitable, and, of course, will neve 
fail to repeat itself under any similar future situ- 
ation. It is a normal, very human reaction, 


As inevitable as the above mentioned mix-up, was the 
development of what may best be described as the 
"part time" Radio Officer, This term is not coined 
or intended in any disparaging way or in criticism—_ 
the term merely says best what I want to say. 


There were——and still are—-three kinds or types of 
"part time" Radio Officer: 


1. The "career" Radio Officer (the man who has spent 
years on the job at sea and who very probably will 
continue going to sea indefinitely, who through no 
fault of his own but as a result of ship lay-up is 
"beached" and out of a job. 


2. The “occasional trip" Radio Officer (the man who 
has a shore-job or other source of income making him 
not wholly dependent upon his Radio Officer's job) 
who continues as a Union member in good standing and 
uses his paid-for privilege via the Union's services 
to "take a trip" when in need of extra money or 
merely to "get away from it all." 


3. The “good time Charlie" Radio Officers (the men 

who are content to stay on the job until they have 
saved-up enough money to live ashore for a time) who 
drop into the Union's offices looking for a Radio 

ee job when their spending-money is running 
ow. 


The three above "part time" Radio Officers types, as 
members of the Union, are all perfectly within their 
rights of doing what they are doing. The Union 
would be wrong in every way to try to teach any mem— 
ber how to live his life or arrange his own affairs. 
Each individual must decide that for himself. . . 


Of the three “part time" Radio Officers types, the 
first or "career" man is the member who is obviously 
the more important, more worthy of notice Radio Of- 
ficer. I say “obviously” because it is quite clear 
to any of us that this particular union member is 
with us to stay. The man who stays is always im- 
portant to any organization, Not only that, many of 
our "career" Radio Officers vividly remember the sub- 
human, pig-sty existence lived by ship's crews in 
past years, the memory of which--to put it mildly— 
is apt to make a man believe more strongly in the 
principles of Unionism, This does not imply, of 
course, that the other two types of "part time" Radio 
preepesd mentioned do not subscribe to those prin- 
ciples. 


The periods, past and present, during which merchant 
shipping suffered slump conditions and Radio Of- 
ficers' jobs were few and far between, have always 
struck particularly hard on my so-called "career" 
Radio Officer simply because his job on board ships 
at sea is the only job he knows, the only job he 
wants, the only job he has. 


This problem I am taking the liberty of discussing, 
the problem of too many Radio Officers and too few 


Digital Media © K2TQN 2012 


ships, is not by any means open to any easy solution 
from either the Union viewpoint or the Union member- 
ship viewpoint, I do suggest, however, that it 
would help to ease the situation if we tightened-up 
on those among us who are using the Union's services 
erratically, i.e., the members who occupy numbers on 
our National "beach list" only as "job security," 
the members who turn down offered jobs too often, 
the members who will ship-out only on certain ships 
and on certain "runs," etc. And, of course, it 
would also help the situation by continuing to clear 
out all “drunks" and "performers" after reasonable 
warning. The latter point is essential to the good 
name of the Union and our own reputation, 
is a serious organization devoted to the betterment 
of its membership——no Union can afford to place it- 
self in a position of disrepute, ridicule, or bad 
publicity by irresponsibility on the part of any in- 
dividual member. We all know that, anyway. 


I am wandering off the track here a little, but while 
on this subject I would like to go a little further. 
There are some who have suggested and discussed the 
idea of compulsory "time off" during shipping slump 
conditions for all Radio Officers holding permanent 
assignments, thereby creating temporary job-openings 
for Union members out of work. You have all heard 
about the "75 days off a year" idea. 


The idea is, in my opinion, against the basic prin- 
ciple of the Labor Union Movement, which is, simply 
speaking, a collective endeavour to obtain for the 
worker fair wages, fair working conditions, and, 
most important of all, ay security. Once you play 
around, put aside, or otherwise interfere with this 
foundation, whatever the provocation may be, you 
dangerously undermine the structure of the principle 
it supports. 


The word "compulsory" or any equivalent word or 
phrase, is dangerous in itself. If Union members-— 
and this is applicable to any Union whatsoever-—-are 
required by compulsory clause of their Union rules 
to periodically vacate their job, then, by the same 
token, it is but a short step to the stage whereby 
the Union member is denied by compulsory clause of 
Union rule his or her right to quit, the right to 
speak his opinion, the right to his native individ- 
ualism, It is a disease which becomes malignant, 
strangles the individual member's economic and per- 
sonal liberty, and gradually submerges the Union 
membership into the nauseous swamp of controlled 
human regimentation . . . a condition which complete- 
ly denies the basic democratic foundation of our 
American “way of life," which, in its turn, and as 

a sop for the cynics among us, although not perfect, 
is as good and better than the masses of any country 
has enjoyed to this date in our history of Man, 


I suggest the Union steer clear away from any plan 
which hints at or suggests compulsory job-sharing or 
job-spreading across our membership. It is defin- 
itely not good Union to dictate to a member the num- 
ber of days he may work per year. The duty of any 
Union is to protect, assist, advance, and safeguard 
the security of the individual members job, not--I 
repeat-—-not to jeopardize or intimidate its exist- 
ence. 


If, however, a “time off" scheme could be arranged 
on a strictly individual, personal, and voluntary 
basis, with no censure or harmful criticism visited 
upon the members who disagree or choose not to co- 
operate--well, it could help. 


To my way of thinking, it would be far wiser and far 
better for the Union membership as a whole to ine 
crease contributions per year and reduce membership, 
than to increase membership while y aware that 
newly-—joined members must wait indefinitely for the 
chance of a job, and, at the same time aggravating 
the situation by increasing the load of members al~ 
ready on our “beach lists." Available jjobs for 
Radio Officers are limited, therefore, in some way, 
it is surely necessary to Limit our total membership. 


After reading over what I have written, I see that 
here and there I undoubtedly have invited the "axe 
which prepares the chicken for the pot." It has, 
however. all been written in good spirit and certain- 
ly with no malice to anyone nor in judgement of any- 
one, The "cauldron" has indeed runneth over! Well 
for better or worse, it is written, and I hope some 
of it will be found of use or interest to us. 


CORR Ta TR SN SE SE YON YE YEN YEN TN TEN TOE TUN ON Pa YEN ON Yam Yon PEt SUN SEN JURY NENT YOUN JENN JEN YORN JINN (38) x YERT Yamnt PUK eat em ET Se Da SEN JO SON PE DE Ja” DK JON SO TOE TE DD ee 


Any Union 


BLUE PETER EDITION zany 


Digital Media © K2TQN 2012 


fa\n (eer ratraira.: 


ima; SPARKS JOURNAL 7-2 


(6\0(6\ (OX Ten reNne. e\e(@\ sce 


P > 2. > ( 


® POR Se lannagnran® GO OD 


f 
\ 


Members Capital Area Chapter - March 17’84 Reunion 


1 UNIDENTIFIED 10 Lewis E. Danes 386-P 19 Albert Stern 4097-V 28 John J. Kelleher 2581-P 

2 Fred Richardson 1672-SGP 11 Helen Danes 20 Ruth Barnabei 29 ~=UNIDENTIFIED 

3 George McLeod 137-P 12. Steven L. Windes 3991-P 21 = Jack Farrance 1591-V 30 John E. Platt 2724-V 

4 Fava Sherrard 137-TA 13. Elaine Waldo 22 John Swafford 783-V 31 Fred J. Friel 2617-V 

5 UNIDENTIFIED 14 James L. Mulhern 3327-P 23. Ann Swafford 32 Hyman Wallin 426-SGP 

6 Helen McLeod 15 George Waldo 3160-SGP 24 UNIDENTIFIED 33. Manuel Botelho 2241-V 

7 Leo M. Carreras 1079-SGP 16 UNIDENTIFIED 25. William B. Morton 3072-V 34 UNIDENTIFIED 

8 Leroy H. Tuttle 4284-P 17. George M. Bartlett 2933-P 26 Paula Popovich 35 George —. Favre 236-P 

9 Camille Carreras 18 Emerson R. Mehrling 2500-P 27 Robert Kreisinger 2534-SGP 36 William J. Brown 2199-SGP 


Meet Eric Walter, Director SOWP Swiss Chapter 


rears Mame es 
Ree) ssh 


ERIC WALTER 
1536-M 


Colt’s Neck Inn N.J. Nov.14 1984 Pickerill Chapter 
Top picture shows Eric working his station "HBOCHE' in Hoeri, Switz- 


[Pictured Left to Right] - Picture taken Nov. 14 1984, Colts Neck Inn erland ( a short distance north of Zurich). The bottom picture is the 
EARL W. KORF - 613-P (K2IC) Lincroft NJ. Former Director Elmo computer part of Bie"irig’« The “EDELIE ST Chapter currently ties 


Pickerill Ghapte : 31 members (paid up 1985). They are quite active with meetings 
Daehn Swaprer: Otek Papramentete (Hr. Society, several times yearly and occasional trips to visit interesting facilities. 


EMERSON R. "EM" MEHRLING - 2500-P (W4NH) Fairfax, VA. Former Eric has extended welcome to those visiting Switzerland to give him a 


Director Chapter X. Now ‘acting' Vice President P&R. "Em" is also call or write. [ QTH — 8181 Hoeri | Phone 01-8605069. Perhaps you 
Wing Director Washington D.C. Chapter. Also Chapter amateur net/s could attend a meeting or they would enjoy a visit. 

official. 

WILLIAM A. BRENIMAN - 1-SGP, (Formerly "6BE/W6BE" 1922-32) = 

Santa Rosa, CA. Founder SOWP, Former President and currently 


Executive Director. 


THOMAS G. KILPATRICK - 2989-P (W2AGT) Boothwyn, PA. Currently 
Director Elmo Pickerill Chapter (X1) 


JOHN L. "Jack" KELLEHER - 2581-P (W4ZC) Annandale, VA. Director 
Capital Area Chapter SOWP. Nomitated as Vice President (Serior) vice 
"Pete" Fernandez (SK) 


COLT'S NECK INN It might be hard to locate on your map but it 
was well Known as a ‘Coach Stop' in early days — before trains etc. 
It is not far from Lincroft NJ . Asbury Park is almost directly East 
on Highway 537. Taking exit 98 on the Garden State Parkway and 
driving North on Route .34 will bring you right to it.. 


NOL NONI NOL NOLL OL OLE NOL OL OL OLE OLE OL OLY PL GLY II NOLO NGL NOL SLYX 


Digital Media © K2TQN 2012 


imam; SPARKS JOURNAL 7-2 gnanerer ANiTeNiTeN: Ti @NGTONT1ON7 Cale \s7eXs7@\NT@NiY@Ni/eVi(eNe Tamms BLUE PETER EDITION agp 


THE SEA TAKES ITS TOLL 


For weeks the restless Atlantic hay been a 
seething cauldron seeking to engulf human life. Almost 
nightly the air has been filled with 8. O. S. calls from 
mariners in distress, And almost daily the landsmen in 
hig snug, comfortable quarters on shore has read of gal- 
lant rescues in howling gales, of waves breaking over 
great ships, of blinding snow storms, of men who have 
given their very lives Without an instant’s hesitation 
im the heroic endeavor to save human life. 

The battle between man and the elements goes on 
unmceasingly. If there has been a toll of twenty-seven 
lives taken from the wreck of half a dozen ships there 
is also the glory story of the rescue of eighty-eight sea- 
men who but for the use of the wireless and the daring 
of their fellow navigators would have gone down with 
their vessels. 

There are many newspaper readers who will recall 
the thrill of that first wireless emergency call, when the 
steamship Grand Republic, on fire at sea, sent its de- 
spairing wail across the ether; when there was at first 
4 hush as though the very universe stood still; then the 
answering words of encouragement from @ dozen great 
Mners changing their course and hurrying under forced 
draft to save life. Then came the launching of the 
Titanic—its very name a defiance of tt elements. 
The proud announcement of its builders that at last man 
bad produced.an “unsinkable” ship had a dramatic 
answer when the giant vessel struck an iceberg on its 
maiden voyage. But the wireless brought the Carpathia 
to pick up as many of the survivers as could crowd into 
the boats when man’s “unsinkable” ship went to the 
bottom. 

The war made such tragedies all too common. It 
was not the elements, but the cowardly dagger of an 
‘unseen assassin that sent the Lusitania, the Arabic, the 
Sussex, and many g@nother vessel to the graveyard of 
ships. 

Sul the fight of man against the elements goes on, 
and gradually, with each advance in science, with each 
hew discovery, it appears that more and more man {s 
winning the battle. But older than Marcon! and bis 
chattering wireless, old almost as the ocean itself, is 
that imperishable courage of them that go down to the 
eea in ships, that willingness to risk their lives cheer- 
fully if by so doing perchance they may save human 
Mfe. That tradition knows no race, nor creed, nor 
mation. The Belgian Arminco rushes to the aid of the 
distressed Norwegian freighter, Dybwad, and takes off 
& crew of twenty-five in a howling gale. The German 
ner Westphalia rescues twenty-seven men from the 
sinking Dutch freighter Alkaid; the American liner 
President Roosevelt brings safely into port the captain 
and crew of the British freighter Antinoe. 

The sea still takes its toll. Twenty-seven lives have 
been lost in the gales of the last ten days. But there 
is cause for rejoicing. Eighty-eight men have been 
snatched from the jaws of death. Mariners of many 
mations have demonstrated anew that those who follow 
their calling have lost nothing of their Courage or skill, 

SS 


OUR Convoy 


Once when my conactousnese matured 
I chose the world for a toy 
but after a thousand departures 

| part of a beleaguered convoy 


Through hostile seas I am satling 
on a course that evokes ill-fate 
and many a friend succumbing 
for death ts never too late 


When another comrade is going 
my poor arma fall ehort of aid 
and we eatl on as tf not knowing 
for to stop means tc terminate 


Good bye my old companion 

how useleee the flag I shall dip 
too shocked and my heart in rebellion 
I proceed with my faltering ship 


For since my experience matured 
I learned the world ia no toy 
and after q thousand departures 
belong to a dwindling convoy 


dan Noordegraaf 


The SCIENTIFIC & HISTORICAL RECORD OF THE EARLY DAYS OF WIRELESS 


Rendezvous with Fate Sent.8.1934 


kkk keke The ‘Wireless’ Our Proud Heritage! kk 


SPARKS JOURNAL 


* * * %& SOCIETY OF WIRELESS PIONEERSINC ¥% *®& & * 


ofit Historical O izati 
Non-profit Historical Organization SECOND CLASS POSTAGE 
DUCIETY OF WIRELESS PIONEERS, INC. PAID 
0 “i 
sums wens, causroniun 95402 AT SANTA ROSA, CALIF. 


Newsletters from the Society of Wireless Pioneers, founded 1968 
~ Dedicated to the History of Seagoing Wireless Operators ~ 


Special thanks to the following for these documents: 
Key [SK = Silent Key, SGP = Spark Gap Pioneers, P = Pioneers, 
V = Veteran, M = Member, Sparks = Worked at Sea] 


(SK) Ed Raser, W2ZI, Radio Pioneer, Sparks, SOWP #35-SGP 
(SK) Bill Gould, K2NP, Radio Pioneer, Sparks, SOWP #565-P 


i 
l 
S$ Morro Castle - KGOV NEWSPAPER Se 
| 
! 


. ks, SOWP #1387-P 
ae ee ee a cane rt 

Picture snapped by member T.W. Braidwood - 2864- POSTMASTER David Ring, Jr, NIEA, Sparks, SOWP #3709. 

SGP, Operator on the SS Orizaba/WRN, SISTER SHIP Please send Form 3579 if un- Steven Rosenfeld, Infoage Librarian, Tech at WOO 

OF THE SS Morro Castle - KWC/KGOV in 1926 as able to deliver. FOREIGN Digital media © John Dilks, K2TQN, 2012 

they passed 'en route". The "Castle" burned in 1934 ADDRESSED COPIES: Abandon 

loss of 90 lives. Radio saved 228. Fires still an if unable deliver, 


unexplained enigma caused by fire and intrigue. 


LOLA NG VOL OLY OL OL) 
TOMO UBB UB NNR NR EIR OL NOLO NEIINOLEN y